Swedish Championships 2011: Hector takes an early lead

7/20/2011 – GM Jonny Hector is in the lead in the national championsh, which is taking place in Västerås, Sweden, from July 16–24. There are seven grandmasters in the ten-player round robin. In round two the 47-year-old Hector played a killer novelty on move 13 of a Sicilian Najdorf, and started thinking for the first time on move 25. That's called good home prep – you should definitely study this game.

Biel Rd3: Shirov beats Caruana, Carlsen leads

7/20/2011 – Another fighting day in Biel. Yannick Pelletier, with a rook for a bunch of pawns, came very close to his first win, against Vachier-Lagrave. But the game was a draw, as was the exciting battle between Alexander Morozevich and Magnus Carlsen. Alexei Shirov had a roller-coaster game against Fabiano Caruana, with the Spanish GM (Shirov) winning in the end. Express report.

Biel International: the great chess analysis festival

7/19/2011 – The 2011 Biel Chess Festival, a double round robin with six top GMs, offers chess fans something very special: breathless live analysis by the players immediately after the game is over. You can watch these sessions on Playchess, or even in your plain vanilla Internet browser. We also capture the analysis and can present it to you here to explore. A wonderful lesson on how grandmasters think.

Biel Rd.2: Carlsen wins again, Vachier self-destructs

7/19/2011 – If a title had to be given to the day’s round, it would be Beauty and the Beast. For ‘Beauty’, Magnus Carlsen confirmed his return to form as he outplayed Shirov in a Meran, taking his score to 2.0/2 (6/2 in the Biel scoring system). The ‘Beast’ would be Vachier-Lagrave’s reversal of fortune against Morozevich as he went from winning to dead lost after a tragic hallucination. Express report.

World Team Ch. Rd3 – Day of Opposites

7/19/2011 – It was a day of opposites in the third round, and the villains of round two, were the heroes in round three and vice-versa. Aronian came back with a big win over Karjakin to help Armenia hold the Russians 2-2, while Israel pulled off a win over home team, China. Nevertheless, Judit Polgar was the hero(ine) of the round beating Mamedov and securing Hungary's victory over Azerbaijan. Round three report.

1st Hangzhou Women Grandmaster Tournament

7/18/2011 – The 1st Hangzhou Women Grandmaster Chess Tournament can easily be ranked as a women chess super tournament with a fantastic lineup includes many of the cream of the crop in women chess, such as Hou Yifan, the Kosintseva sisters, recently-wed Dzagnidze (congratulations), and others. Ju Wenjun has taken the early lead with 3.5/4. Here is the report by chess reporter Liang Ziming.

Tiviakov wins 5th Leiden Chess Tournament

7/18/2011 – One round before the end it looked as though Predrag Nikolic would wrap it up. But the Bosnian GM had to face his closest rival, GM Sergey Tiviakov of Holland, who won the crucial game and the tournament. Sergey not only did that, but periodically supplied us with pictures from Leiden and, this time, Scheveningen, where a famous opening was invented. Final report.

44th Biel International Chess Festival under way

7/18/2011 – It started with a bang: top seed Magnus Carlsen, Norway, had black against bottom seed Yannick Pelletier, Switzerland, and went into a tough ending of queen and extra pawn against queen. But the world's number one worked out a sound strategy and took home the full three points (which you get for a win) in 88 moves. The round was highlighted by a lot of live action on Playchess.com.

World Team Ch. – China beats Ukraine; USA holds Armenia

7/18/2011 – The second round of the World Team championship, brought two very surprising results, potentially skewering the predictions of the pundits. The first was Ukraine's loss to the home team, China, when Ding Liren broke the deadlock with a win on board four. The second was the US's surprising draw against Armenia after Kamsky capitalized on errors by Aronian. Round two report.

22nd Czech Open – Giant games and chess festival

7/17/2011 – This year marks the 22nd year of the Pardubice festival, where events with tons of games, and modalities for all tastes can be found, attracting 1445 players from 44 countries including 60 GMs and WGMs, and 81 IMs and WIMs. For example there are the Polgar Superstar Chess World Championship, the Fischer Random Chess event, four-player team events, and you name it. Report.

World Team Championship starts in Ningbo, China

7/17/2011 – It is a kind of exclusive Olympiad, in which only ten elite teams compete for top honors. With such a high level selection, including the likes of Aronian, Karjakin, Ivanchuk, and more, there are no weak match-ups, and the very first round saw Goliath versus Goliath, and in one case, a Goliath versus David, with a result similar to the Bible tale. Big opening pictorial.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (66)

7/17/2011 – The first two decades of the twentieth century saw many initiatives to create bodies with names such as the International Chess Masters’ Association, International Chess Association, Supreme Court, Chess Council and, eventually, International Chess Federation. The Editor of Chess Notes reports on these pre-FIDE attempts to organize the chess world and, in particular, the world championship.

XXXIV Barbera del Valles - Sun, fun, and a GM norm

7/16/2011 – It was a euphoric Alina L'Ami who sent in a second photographic report on the international tournament in sunny Barbera del Valles. In spite of her 2312 rating, she scored a full-fledged GM norm with a 2612 performance against no fewer than five GMs. Despite this, she found the time to also visit Barcelona and share her pictures and impressions with Chessbase readers. A pictorial by Alina L'Ami.

Kings on the h-file

7/15/2011 – His exposed majesty had caused Black to go for the deflecting strike 48...Nc3xe4 before, in order after 49.Qf3xe4 Qa2-f2 (diagram) to get out of the affair by the mate threat on g1. Which move wins for White now?
A) 50.Bg2
B) 50.Qf5+
C) neither (draw)

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

FIDE has announced qualifiers for the World Cup 2011

7/15/2011 – "FIDE gave me a wildcard for the World Cup!" wrote GM Peter Heine Nielsen. "Thanks a lot for your help, Vladica, Jeff and Fred. Can't tell how much I appreciate that." It is, PH assumes, the result of a series of articles we published in April, and the support they generated. The World Cup will take place in Khanty-Mansiysk from August 26 to 21 September 2011. Here's a list of all participants.

CBM 142 – something for everybody

7/14/2011 – "ChessBase Magazine no. 142," writes reviewer Sean Marsh in his chess blog, "is like its predecessors a top quality chess product at a very reasonable price. It remains the best single piece of chess merchandise on the market." Powerful words about a product that combines a luxurious printed magazine with a DVD chock full of chess training.

CBM Blog: 'Rook endings are always drawn?'

7/14/2011 – Well, in a certain sense yes, but usually the defender must play actively, as our our endgame specialist Dr Karsten Müller meticulously demonstrates. In his second example GM Müller shows us how in a "wrong rook pawn" ending the defender can often hope to construct a fortress, and how this can be overcome by the attacker. Valuable lessons for your next tournament.

Breaking news: World Championship 2012 in Chennai

7/13/2011 – There was a bid from Russia, but now the Tamil Nadu Government has placed a winning bid for the Chess World Championship match between reigning Champion Viswanathan Anand and Challenger Boris Gelfand. The match will take place in April or May of 2012, the total budget is Rs. 20 crores (= 3.2 million Euros or US $4.5 million). Press release.

Marija and Kosara's project 'Children in Chess'

7/13/2011 – The two Serbian sisters Marija and Kosara Stojanovic are on a mission to help hearing impaired children, and young people with mental disabilities, to find pleasure and enjoyment in chess. In their pilot project they conduct classes once a week, and organise simultaneous exhibitions and outdoor events. Wonderful work that needs to be supported – or simply emulated by others. Take a look.

'Any Questions' show on Playchess with Andrew Martin

7/12/2011 – He's a chess expert and a very proficient teacher, trainer, author of over twenty ChessBase training DVDs. On Wednesday IM Andrew Martin will face the Playchess crowd for an exclusive Q&A session. You can send him questions by email and he will try to answer as many as he can manage. The show is free for all premium members. Be there at 21:00h CEST.

Eleven-year-old Kazakh gains WIM

7/12/2011 – Zhansaya Abdumalik already has three junior world championship titles under her belt. Recently she won an international tournament in Indonesia among girls under 20 years of age as well, which gave her the title of Women's International Master and a heavy boost in her rating. Now she has set her sights at the Women's Grandmaster title. Good luck, Zhansaya, we have a prize for you.

Kavalek in Huffington: Afek's Chess Puzzles

7/12/2011 – The International Master Yochanan Afek, 59, is an Israeli chess composer who lives in the Netherlands. He plays in tournaments but is better known for his witty endgame studies, full of magical spins. He is also an entertaining lecturer with a great sense of humor. GM Lubomir Kavalek presents three of his compositions. Can you find the solutions?

Howell leads in 5th Leiden Chess Tournament

7/12/2011 – British GM David W.L. Howell is in the lead in this nine-round Dutch GM Open with a perfect 4.0/4 score. He is followed by six players on 3.5 points. At the start of the event there was a rapid chess exhibition between legendary Dutch GM Jan Timman and current Dutch Champion Anish Giri – it ended 1.0:1.0. We have a pictorial by GM Sergey Tiviakov, who is playing in the event. Round four report.

Bologan: Beating the Sicilian: A Grandmaster’s repertoire

7/12/2011 – For many years GM Viktor Bologan has been the number one in Moldava and has represented his country in nine Chess Olympiads. In 2003 he first of all won the Aeroflot Open and then the famous Dortmund Tournament, ahead of Kramnik and Anand. The Moldovan has extensive experience as a trainer, and his latest DVD is bound to be a bestseller. Check it out.