2010 Chess Olympiad: Mamedyarov beats Ivanchuk; Ukraine prevails

9/30/2010 – The Azerbaijani team had climbed back into contention after their surprise loss to Vietnam, and now faced Ukraine, the leaders. Mamedyarov outplayed Ivanchuk in a Benoni with some briliant shots, but Ukraine's bottom boards rallied. Russia 1 beat Armenia thanks to Svidler, and France beat Georgia to tie for second. As to the women, the Russians nearly lost. Round nine report.

Zugzwang in Kristiansund

9/30/2010 – In the rapid chess game Anand-Hammer, played in Kristiansund in the "Arctic Securities Chess Stars" tournament, it came down to this minor piece ending. It seems that all entry routes into the black camp are blocked to the white king, because the knight, the b7-pawn and the king are guarding all the important squares on the queenside and in the centre. And yet... White can force the win here with a precise move order, with the motif of zugzwang playing a decisive part.
Compare your solution with the analysis given by grandmaster Karsten Müller on ChessBase Magazine Online.

Ilyumzhinov wins FIDE election by 95 votes to 55

9/29/2010 – The vote took two hours, and the final count was 95 for the incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, 55 for the challenger Anatoly Karpov and three abstentions (four years ago Ilyumzhinov beat Bessel Kok by 96-54). The renewed victory was achieved mostly with votes from smaller federations in Asia, Africa and South America, while Karpov's votes came mainly from European countries. Four more years for Kirsan.

2010 Chess Olympiad: Ukraine and Russia 1 draw in round 8

9/29/2010 – In numbers, it was the biggest match of the Olympiad. Russia 1 had just beaten their younger compatriots Russia 2, while Ukraine was in sole lead and had magic Ivanchuk on 6/6. The Ukrainian finally ceded a draw, and it was young Karjakin who overtook the leaderboard with a 3040 performance, seven more than Ivanchuk, after beating Eljanov. Detailed analysis in the round eight report.

Echoes of the Election

9/29/2010 – On Wednesday Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was reelected President of FIDE, which he has headed since 1995. His victory over the challenger Anatoly Karpov, backed by Garry Kasparov, was greeted with delight and dismay in the international press. Accusations of proxy vote rigging have been raised, and Karpov vows that the fight will go on. Reports and explanations.

Strong central knight, space advantage...

9/29/2010 – ... and the offside black queen were the factors optically speaking in White's favour in this position after 14...a5 from the first round of the Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk. How would you assess the situation?
A) equality, Black always gets to counterattack the weak point d4 in time;
B) White wins the queen by force. 
C) he can start a crushing attack on the kingside.

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

Wang Yue, World University Chess Champion

9/28/2010 – He became China's 18th grandmaster at the age of 17, and is currently his country's highest ranked player – at 2732 number 16 in the world. Recently 23-year-old student Wang Yue won the World University Chess Championship 2010, an event that carried no prize money, by a clear two points. He spoke to the Swiss organisers about his plan to return to the top ten slot in the world rankings. Insight.

81st FIDE Congress in Khanty-Mansiysk: days one to three

9/28/2010 – Usually, everybody pays attention only to the Presidential elections, but the FIDE Congress is not solely about elections. Currently, the 81st FIDE Congress is underway in Khanty-Mansiysk, and will last until October 2nd. Olena Boytsun, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, has been faithfully attending the meetings and has sent us this comprehensive report.

2010 Chess Olympiad: Ivanchuk 5/5, Adams beats Carlsen

9/28/2010 – The world number one, who comments on his loss against Jobava, has been having a tough tournament, and lost again, this time against Adams after a very odd opening choice. On the other hand, Ivanchuk and Georgian GM Pantsulaia have had a perfect five in five start. Georgia, Armenia, and Ukraine lead the men, while the Russian women are in sole lead. Round six report with stats and analysis.

Court case against Ilyumzhinov fails

9/28/2010 – A judgment by the Court of Arbitration for Sport turned down the request by the Karpov 2010 campaign to disqualify the Presidential ticket of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. The lawsuit, which was also filed by the federations of the US, France, Germany, Switzerland and Ukraine, challenged the legitimacy of Ilyumzhinov and vice presidential candidate Beatriz Marinello. Ruling and reactions.

Kavalek at Huffington: Ivanchuk Dominates Chess Olympiad

9/28/2010 – At the Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk one player, Vasyl Ivanchuk, stands head and shoulders above all other players. The 41-year old Ukrainian grandmaster has smashed everything coming his way so far, amassing a giant performance rating. In his latest Huffington Post column GM Lubomir Kavalek provides indepth analysis of a remarkable Ivanchuk game.

2010 Chess Olympiad: Ukraine takes sole lead in round 7

9/28/2010 – After a slip-up in the third round, Ukraine had duly won all their next encounters, and met Georgia in an exciting clash. Jobava went all out for the win, but was unable to break Ivanchuk, who reigns alone atop Mount Olympiad with 6/6. Armenia was defeated by Azerbaijan, while the Russian women crushed Hungary 4-0. After Carlsen, it was another 2800's turn to slip unexpectedly.

Who is this chess-loving legend? It was...

9/27/2010 – Not Harry Belafonte, Tony Curtis or Peter Falk. The other 95% of our readers – and 100% of our French friends – got it right: Jean-Paul Belmondo, the legendary actor and icon of French cinema, enjoying life now at 77. He spent some time chatting with the Azeri grandmaster Teimour Radjabov, who was thrilled to the marrow. Here's some JPB bio and film scenes.

2010 Chess Olympiad: Hungary beats Russia 1, Armenia two.

9/26/2010 – It was a difficult day for the top two Russian men's teams (of their five), as Hungary beat Russia 1, playing without Kramnik, by 2.5-1.5 while Armenia defeated Russia 2 by the same score. The Georgian men crushed the Vietnamese team by 3.5-0.5, and of the top three are the heaviest scorers. In the women's section, Russia 1 overcame China in a tough match. Round five report.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (48)

9/26/2010 – A mutilated score-sheet, a perplexing death, an organizer’s pairing problem, a secret service code, a Latin cryptogram and a task involving sawing up a chessboard. These are just some of the dozen chess-related puzzles of logic, deduction and mathematics which have been brought together by the Editor of Chess Notes. Pit your wits against some of history's greatest puzzle-makers.

2010 Chess Olympiad: Tactics, tactics, and more....

9/26/2010 – With so many games, and so many players, there has been plenty of tragedy and brilliance to go around. In order to celebrate the brightest moments of players of all strengths, we have selected sixteen positions for you to test your skills. All are accessible, and should give your neurons a good workout until the next round of action. Try our mid-tournament tactical quiz.

A pattern seems to be emerging here….

9/24/2010 – Tactics sometimes seem to come out of thin air, but in reality the patterns were there all along, waiting to be discovered, assimilated and played. GM Daniel King shows you many fundamental patterns and explains how and when these crop up in real games. In this, the latest addition to the Power Play series, will you pass the test? Review by Patrick Goldsworthy.

London Chess Classic 2010 – a reminder

9/24/2010 – After the success of this newly organised tournament last year, the second edition of the Chess Classic promises to be an even greater event. It will be staged in London from December 8 to 15, 2010 and includes the current World Champion (Anand), his predecessor (Kramnik) and his possible successor (Carlsen), plus a bevy of high-class players. Make your plans now – here are the details.

Ilyumzhinov: 'Chess came to Earth from outer space'

9/24/2010 – If it wasn't a venerable British newspaper we would think it was a tease. After one short enquiry Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who hopes to be re-elected FIDE President next week, agreed to meet with Shaun Walker of The Independent in Moscow and "put forward his platform for the FIDE elections, and to share his views on life." Some of the latter are a bit startling. Don't miss it.

2010 Chess Olympiad: Jobava beats Carlsen in round four

9/24/2010 – In the fourth round, Georgian Jobava was the hero of the day as he help his team beat Norway resoundingly with a dramatic win over Magnus Carlsen, after deviating from normal theory on move six. Russia 1 defeated the US 3-1, and Russia 2 also beat India. In a key match Hungary overcame China after Judit Polgar once more proved the star of her team. Round four report.

2010 Chess Olympiad: Bulgaria and Azerbaijan stumble in round two

9/23/2010 – The second round continued with disparate pairings, but this time, instead of the oddball upset, top teams stumbled against opponents they were expected to beat. Who would have thought Bulgaria with Topalov would go down to Croatia, much less Azerbaijan, with Mamedyarov and Radjabov, to Vietnam? They no doubt dearly miss Gashimov now. Round two report with videos and games.

Rooks belong behind passed pawns

9/23/2010 – This is one of the best-known principles in rook endings, formulated by Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch (1862-1934), who was at the turn of the century one of the strongest players around as well as being an extremely influential chess theoretician on account of his writings on chess which earned for him the nickname of Praeceptor Germaniae. Now, you will certainly point out that in this position from the game Acs-Timman the white rook is already in position behind the passed h-pawn. And yet, White found a strong move which is in total harmony with the Tarrasch rule. Analysis by GM Karsten Müller on ChessBase Magazine Online.

Boris Spassky in grave condition

9/23/2010 – It has been reported that former World Champion Boris Spassky is in intensive care after suffering a stroke in his Moscow apartment. Doctors said that after receiving an emergency call they discovered the 73-year-old Spassky in a semi-conscious state, paralyzed on his left side. They said his condition was grave. We wish our dear friend Boris Vasilievich a speedy and complete recovery.

2010 Chess Olympiad: Ukraine held to draw in round three

9/23/2010 – The third round can be considered the eye of the hurricane as it was the last one before the top teams all start colliding. Ukraine who had led until now, was held to a draw by Croatia, while Bosnian Ivan Sokolov beat his second 2700 player in three rounds, helping draw against Poland. The game of the round though was by Gata Kamsky who won in emphatic fashion. Round three report.