King's Tournament Medias – pictures from the opening ceremony

6/11/2011 – Friday afternoon the six players of the Fifth Kings Tournamentin Medias gathered together in the Natural Gas Documentation and Information Centre to meet the sponsors, Romgaz, execute the drawing of lots and speak to the journalists. The ceremony had a world champion present: Ognean Mihnea-Ionut, World School under seven Champion. Photographic impressions by Frederic Friedel.

Medias Kings Rd1: Carlsen and Ivanchuk open with wins

6/11/2011 – All the ingredients for a super tournament are there, with ultra-talented players known for their creativity and combativeness. Magnus Carlsen, always in the center of the international spotlight, beat Nakamura in a powerful game in the opening round, while Ivanchuk did much the same against Radjabov, in a highly original King's Indian Averbakh. Express report with pictures.

Checks and counterchecks

6/10/2011 – In this position White had just played 26.Nxe5 inviting his opponent to go for 26...Rxg2. Which continuation leads to victory after that?

A) 27.Nf7+ Kg8 28.Nh6+;
B) 27.Ng4+ Kg8 28.Qe6+; 
C) neither nor, Black can always save his skin with a discovered (counter)check.

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

King's Tournament in Medias starts on Saturday

6/10/2011 – The fifth edition of the Kings Tournament will be held in Medias, Romania, from June 11-22. The event is a category 21 double round robin with six players, all but one over 2700 (Elo average: 2758). Most have arrived in Bazna, their place of residence. Just getting there was an electrifying experience, as Frederic Friedel reports in the first installment of his Medias journal.

Master Moves #13

6/10/2011 – 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 French League Championship. Time to bodybuild the brain!

Garry Kasparov launches Chess Foundation in Europe

6/9/2011 – Garry Kasparov and Jan Callewaert, founder of Option, today announced the creation of the Kasparov Chess Foundation Europe. The mission of this non-profit organization will be to bring the many educational benefits of chess to children and young people throughout schools in Europe, both public and private, by providing a complete chess curriculum and enrichment programs. Press release.

Sonas: The Deloitte/FIDE Chess Rating Challenge

6/8/2011 – The Deloitte/FIDE Chess Rating Challenge, a worldwide contest to determine the most accurate rating algorithm for predicting chess game outcomes, has recently concluded. The winner of the $10,000 first prize was Tim Salimans, a Ph.D. student in the Netherlands. Tim submitted the most accurate predictions, out of all 189 teams who participated, and so he won the big prize.

Kasparov on 25 Years of ChessBase

6/8/2011 – He was there at the start – actually before that, when a chess database was just an idea in the minds of a few enthusiasts. And when he saw the first prototype Garry Kasparov immediately pushed for its completion. For the 25th anniversary of ChessBase he sent us a very moving statement, recorded in his study in Moscow, describing the birth of what he calls the ChessBase generation.

ChessBase 25 Composing Tourney

6/8/2011 – Special occasions in the chess world are often accompanied by a chess composition tourney. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of ChessBase, the Israeli study composer IM Yochanan Afek, together with the Dutch-Flemish Association for Endgame Study, ARVES, has announced a commemorative tourney. All are invited to test their creative skills.

CBM Blog: Surprise mating attack + knight domination

6/7/2011 – Rook endings have a large drawish tendency, in sharp contrast to pawn endings. However, one mistake can be fatal, sometimes leading to an unexpected mate. In his second example our resident GM and endgame specialist Karsten Müller shows us how the normally dominating bishop can be dominated by a knight in pawn endings. Look and learn.

Cupa Romaniei – rapid team championship in a very beautiful place

6/6/2011 – This three-day event, with a number of strong players, took place in two sections: "masculin" and "femini". The location was Brasov, which claims to be "probably the best city in the world". Our author and photographer WGM Alina l'Ami, who recently sent us some wonderful impressions from Luanda, Angola, has sent us another wonderful pictorial, this time from her native Romania. Enjoy.

León 2011: Anand beats Shirov 4.5-1.5

6/6/2011 – Day three of the León Masters was a continuation of the previous days, which can only be considered a boon to chess lovers – with the exception of Shirov fans perhaps. It was more exciting fighting chess until the very last game, and Anand showed his irreproachable class by winning the León Masters for the eighth time. Final report.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (62)

6/5/2011 – Every collector likes multi-signed items. After presenting some from his collection, the Editor of Chess Notes offers readers the opportunity to acquire a stunning one: a programme inscribed by, among others, Anand, Gelfand, Grischuk, Ivanchuk, Karpov, Kasparov, Khalifman, Korchnoi, Leko, Morozevich, Ponomariov, Seirawan, Shirov, Short, Smyslov and Spassky. A grand total of 28 signatures...

Brilliance, drama and scandal at the German Championship

6/4/2011 – GM Igor Kenkin tied for first with GM Jan Gustafsson, winning the championship on the tiebreak score. In the women's section Sarah Hoolt took sole first with 7.5/9 points. In round six the defending champion, 19-year-old IM Niclas Huschenbeth played a delightful game against Gustafsson, and in the final round FM Christoph N. was disqualified for cheating. Big illustrated report.

León 2011: Anand and Shirov have exciting start

6/4/2011 – After a fairly ho-hum Candidates cycle, chess fans were famished wolves in search of excitement on the chessboard. True, neither Anand nor Shirov has a reputation for boring chess (knock on wood), but the proof is in the pudding. Thankfully they were rewarded for their faith, and the first two games were exciting battles. Anand's win in game two was annotated by GM Elshan Moradiabandi.

Caissa in Jamaica

6/4/2011 – Chess in the tropics or more isolated parts of the world can be harder to come by, but love of the game can go a long way. In Jamaica, they recently brought GM Timoshenko for a simul, shorty after which a qualifier for the Jamaican champ-ionship took place, won by recently-arrived Denton Cockburn and JCF President, Ian Wilkinson. Here is the enthusiastic report by Ian Wilkinson.

León 2011: Anand unleashes game-changing novelty

6/4/2011 – If the first day had already awoken the fans from their slumber, the second day was one to rewrite sections of opening manuals. Although one expects to see novelties in rapid games, they are most often slight permutations in known theory. In game three, a Caro-Kann Advance with 4.g4, Anand played a novelty on move six that changes the way the line will be evaluated. Not to be missed!

Few pieces

6/4/2011 – By giving up his passed pawn with 33.d6, White can force 33...Bxd6 34.Nxd6+ Qxd6 and make the black king vulnerable to checks. This... 

A) ... leads by force to the win of Black's rook or queen;
B) ... results in a balanced position/perpetual check;
C) ... ultimately just blunders a pawn.

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

León: Anand, Shírov… and a secret character

6/3/2011 – Viswanathan Anand is the reigning World Champion, and leads the FIDE world rankings. The Indian is also a well-known specialist in fast time controls. His opponent in the 14th edition of the traditional Ciudad de León Rapid Chess Match is the tremendously imaginative and combative GM Alexei Shirov of Spain. The match will be accompanied by a mysterious "Restless Player". 4:30 p.m. on Playchess.

Bartel wins King’s Gambit in Radom

6/3/2011 – For the fourteenth time, Polish chess players came to Radom to take part in a very unusual tournament dedicated to the most romantic of all chess openings. All the games in the tournament started from the very well known position after moves 1. e4 e5 2. f4. This year, the winner was Polish champion GM Mateusz Bartel, who kindly annotated one of his games for us. Enjoy.

Can population or GDP explain chess success?

6/2/2011 – How much of a country’s chess success can be explained in terms of its size? There is a positive relationship between the population of a country and the average ratings of its top players, but size is certainly not the only factor. But adjusting for population and GDP shows that some smaller countries can have considerably above-expected ratings. Can you guess which ones top the list?

CBM Blog: Fortress or Not? + Knight endings

6/1/2011 – Against a bishop the defender can often try to construct a fortress, as it can visit only half the squares of the chessboard, as our resident GM and endgame specialist Karsten Müller demonstrates. The themes of outside passed pawn and zugzwang play a major role in knight endings as well, where, due to the tactical abilities of the knight, great care is often required. Learn and become stronger.

ChessBase is 25: Birthday greetings from Anand

6/1/2011 – Our company was born on May 19, 1986, twenty-five years ago, and on May 19, 2011 one of our most loyal friends, World Champion Viswanathan Anand, logged into the Playchess server and sent us a ten-minute birthday greeting. It was quite moving to be reminded of the early days by one who was present at the time – and who has remained a close friend ever since. Must-watch historical video.

Brand new: 60 Minutes – Chess theory compact and to the point

5/31/2011 – How about this: world class grandmasters teach you how to play systems in which they are supreme experts. In the ChessBase Media format, which means full video and a synchronised board. In sixty minutes per lesson. For less than ten Euros ($14.25). The lessons are available as downloads, so you can start working immediately. Interested? Here are all the details and sample videos.