FIDE ratings: Anand now number one

11/1/2010 – Magnus Carlsen, who has topped the world chess rankings since January 2010, lost a whopping 24 points in the last two-month period. But it is a tribute to the young Norwegian that he could take this and only slip to second place, two points behind World Champion Vishy Anand, who is back on top. Aronian has climbed to number three with a 2800+ rating. November 2010 FIDE rankings.

Vachier Lagrave wins 14th Unive Tournament 2010 in Hoogeveen

10/31/2010 – This double round robin tournament in Holland was won convincingly by the second youngest player in the field, top French GM Maxime Vachier Lagrave, who turned twenty a day before the start of the event. Maxime, rated 2721, lost no games, beat top seed Shirov once and Tiviakov twice, finishing a point ahead of the field and gaining 12 rating points. Happy birthday, Max!

Opening surveys in CBM 138

10/31/2010 – Black equalises in the Caro-Kann against 3.Nc3; at the moment, only 3.e5 gives White some hope of an opening advantage. Things are as clear-cut as that according to Leonid Kritz. In any case, the German grandmaster also delivers his contribution to proving this statement, at least as far as the second part on the Advance Variation is concerned. In the critical line after 3...Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 he shows how White achieves a slight advantage both against 6...Qb6 and also 6...cxd4. The Olympiad game Karjakin-Eljanov confirms Kritz' analysis. You will find another 11 articles on the DVD of CBM 138. Read: Kritz' complete article

Nanjing R10: Magnus wins with 2900+ performance

10/30/2010 – What is with him and China? Magnus Carlsen has again won the Nanjing Super-GM, a full point ahead of Vishy Anand, who grabbed a final point back from French GM Etienne Bacrot. Meanwhile Veselin Topalov tricked Wang Yue and converted a lost position into a win. Magnus picked up 80,000 Euros – and enough Elo points to entrench him at the top of the world rankings. Final report.

Out into the open...

10/29/2010 – ... White had invited the black king with his last move 12.Qf3, the obvious intention after 12...Bxe5 being 13.Qxc6+ followed by 14.Rxe5. Considering the underdevelopment of both sides, what do you think should be the result of this operation?
A) advantage for Black
B) advantage for White
C) equality
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

Nanjing R09: Carlsen beats Topalov, wins Pearl Spring

10/29/2010 – It was the usual story: Magnus Carlsen kept putting intense pressure on the opponent, turning the screws, until suddenly he cracked. Unusual was that it was the former world number one, Veselin Topalov who buckled. The other games were drawn. Carlsen is now 1½ points ahead of the field and the winner of the event. Illustrated report with analysis by GM Romain Edouard.

GM Jan Gustafsson: The Marshall Attack

10/29/2010 – "I gave it full marks, five out of five," writes reviewer GM Hedinn Steingrimsson about his colleague's new DVD. Jan Gustafsson is a leading expert on the Marshall Attack, especially in the attacking lines where Black plays uncompromisingly for a win. "This might very well be the best opening DVD that ChessBase has produced," says Steingrimsson. Review with video samples.

Nanjing R07: Topalov wins, Anand pulls off Houdini escape

10/28/2010 – What an exciting day! Gashimov and Wang Yue played out 67 moves all the way down to bare kings; Etienne Bacrot, playing with the black pieces, became too optimistic against Topalov, blundered and lost; and Magnus Carlsen outmaneuvered Anand to reach a winning position, only to miss two straight wins, spoiling it to a draw. Round seven report and analysis.

The rook strike on f7...

10/28/2010 – ... followed by a queen pin was what White couldn't resist in this position, being well aware of Black's strong passed pawn on b2. What do you think did 22.Rxf7 Rxf7 23.Qc4 bring about at the end?
A) victory for White;
B) victory for Black;
C) draw;

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

Moves for Life program in South Africa

10/28/2010 – October 26 will be remembered as a turning point in the development and popularization of chess in South African. At a gala dinner the country's President, Jacob Zuma, together with chess officials and industrial sponsors, launched the new program that hopes to emulate the example of other countries to bring chess to schools and young people. There Zuma delivered a memorable speech.

Nanjing R08: Anand threatens to win, all games drawn

10/28/2010 – The round started quietly, with Bacrot and Gashimov quickly shaking hands, for understandable reasons; Wang Yue left the opening against Carlsen up a pawn, but failed to find a way to improve, and the game of the day was Anand against Topalov, with the Bulgarian in chipper spirits, playing a dynamic, optimistic game. Report with game commentary by GM Romain Edouard.

14th Unive Tournament 2010 in Hoogeveen, Netherlands

10/27/2010 – This double round robin tournament is taking place in Hoogeveen, Netherlands, from October 22nd to 30th, 2010. The four players, Alexei Shirov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Anish Giri and Sergei Tiviakov, have an average rating of 2696 – just five points shy of making it a Category 19. After the first half the two top seeds, Shirov and Vachier, lead. Pictorial impressions by Fred Lucas.

2010 Cap d'Agde rapid - Eight qualify, Nakamura blitzes

10/27/2010 – In the Cap d'Agde invitational rapid, sixteen players were invited including French talents Romain Edouard, Tigran Gharamian, and Sophie Milliet, as well as Vasily Ivanchuk, Judit Polgar and title-holder Hikaru Nakamura among others. Two groups played round-robins, and now the quarter-final matches will start. Report with pictures, videos, and games commented by GM Romain Edouard.

ChessBase Tutorials Open Games review

10/26/2010 – The new ChessBase Tutorials series on openings aims to provide amateurs and club players with a concise, working overview of the openings, providing a booklet, and 24 video lectures in both English and German, presented by eight masters and grandmasters. Each lecture presents the main theory and ideas behind the lines making openings study easier than ever. Review by Albert Silver.

Nanjing R06: Anand beats Wang, Carlsen leads

10/26/2010 – Coming out of the rest day, revitalized World Champion Vishy Anand scored a second win in this tournament, this time over Wang Yue, to move half a point higher on the cross table. Magnus Carlsen and Veselin Topalov both struggled and were quite lucky to get draws, though both their games were tense thrilling affairs. Round six report with analysis by GM Elshan Moradiabadi.

2010 World Youth Chess Championship – midway report

10/26/2010 – The 2010 World Youth Chess Championship is underway at picturesque Porto Carras, Greece, and has just completed seven rounds. Nearly 1400 children have come from 87 countries to compete for the World Champion titles in categories ranging from Under-8 to Under-18, including players who are already repeat champions. Here is an illustrated report with many lovely pictures.

Israeli GM Alik Gershon breaks simul world record

10/25/2010 – "Israel destroys Iran – on the chess board". This was the gleeful headline of countless news reports. Last year Iranian GM Morteza Mahjoob had played against 500 opponents with a 88.4% score. Now Gershon hast topped that by taking on 523 opponents with a 86% result, and got his name into the Guinness World Records book. We bring you a big pictorial report and videos.

Economist wins European Club Cup in Plovdiv

10/24/2010 – The Russian team won the 2010 title with 13 match points, ahead of four teams with eleven apiece. But the most outstanding performance came from Armenian GM Levon Aronian, playing for Mika Yerevan, who scored 4.5/6 with a 2884 performance that brings him to 2801 (and at least number three in the world) on the next FIDE rating list. Aronian is only the sixth player to cross the 2800 mark.

Nanjing R04: Giri analyses two games

10/24/2010 – Yesterday it was all about Anand's loss to Bacrot, in a position that he could have drawn. Now that the dust has settled (somewhat – the letters are still pouring in), we turn our attention to the two other games that we sadly neglected. Both were drawn but both interesting and one quite nerve-racking. Once again we bring you the entertaining and instructive commentary of GM Anish Giri.

Nanjing R05: Bacrot and Carlsen win

10/24/2010 – Another exciting day: while Anand settled for a safe draw against Vugar Gashimov (to recuperate on the free day), bottom seed Etienne Bacrot continued his rampage with a black-piece win against Wang Yue; and Magnus Carlsen continued his forceful comeback with another fine victory – over second seed Veselin Topalov. Illustrated report with analysis by GM Elshan Moradiabadi.

Nanjing R03: Anand beats Topalov with black – all games decided

10/23/2010 – Yesterday all games were drawn, while today, in round three, all three games were decisive, with Vishy Anand and Etienne Bacrot beating Veselin Topalov and Vugar Gashimov, both with the black pieces. Meanwhile Magnus Carlsen celebrated a second victory, this time against Wang Yue with white. We bring you a full report with analysis by GM Anish Giri.

Nanjing R04: Bacrot beats Anand, Carlsen leads

10/23/2010 – After a very nice win yesterday World Champion Viswanathan Anand today suffered a painful defeat when he apparently misjudged an endgame of four pawns vs bishop and two pawns. The winner: French GM Etienne Bacrot, who is now in place two on the table. Anand, it turns out, could have saved the "wrong-colored bishop" endgame, as our resident expert Dr Karsten Müller shows.

Kavalek at Huffington: Chess Champion's Class Act

10/22/2010 – Vishy Anand is the most versatile world chess champion. He is also a class act and gives credit where credit is due. Twice this year, Anand turned the Lasker Variation of the Queen's Gambit, a favorite defense of his former coach Artur Yusupov, into gold – both times against Veselin Topalov. GM Lubomir Kavalek annotates today's game in Nanjing and provides solutions to last week's puzzles.

Romantic king's march in the Silicon era

10/22/2010 – After playing at the Olympiad, and now at home enjoying a much deserved rest, Iranian GM Elshan Moradiabadi, whose interests range from stand-up comedy to Richard Dawkins, commented on his admiration for Nigel Short's romantic opening choice of the Max-Lange in the 5th round against Laurent Fressinet. He shares here his detailed and highly entertaining notes.