FIDE May ratings – Aronian ten points behind Carlsen

5/1/2012 – The gap is narrowing, Magnus! 29-year-old Armenian GM Levon Aronian, who first broke 2600 at the ripe old age of twenty, keeps crawling up the ratings ladder and is five points closer to the leader than in the previous rankings. In the current list we see many huge gains and losses, like the +29 by Viktor Bologan or the –26 by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Workers' Day list.

Ilyumzhinov visits Bachar Assad in Damascus

4/30/2012 – Is anybody surprised? Yesterday FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was in the Syrian capital and had a three-hour talk with beleaguered President Bachar Assad, who, according to Ilyumzhinov, "plays chess very well – since his studies in London". During their discussions Assad "pledged on a number of occasions his allegiance to the peace plan proposed by Mr. Kofi Annan". Press release.

ChessBase 25 Composing Tourney Awards – Part one

4/30/2012 – Special occasions in the chess world are often celebrated by chess problemists with a composition tourney. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of ChessBase we staged a commemorative tourney. A total of 73 eligible entries were received for this tourney, an excellent response. The tourney judge Dr John Nunn selected 22 prize winners and commendations. Today we bring you the top four.

CBM training: Endgames from the Chinese Championship 2012

4/28/2012 – China has broken onto the chess scene with an awe-inspiring phalanx of top grandmasters. During the recent national championships we saw some highly instructive games. Our ChessBase Magazin expert Dr Karsten Müller was, of course, scanning the interesting endings and he gives us our week-end dose of useful chess instructions. It's free of charge! Learn and enjoy.

Zurich Challenge G6: Exciting draw after 43 moves

4/28/2012 – Levon Aronian again opened with the unusual (for him) 1.e4 and Vladimir Kramnik played his pet Berlin Defence. The game remained fairly balanced, with Kramnik waiting for a chance to strike. And strike he did, with an exchange sacrifice on move 31 which almost won him the match. It was only time trouble that saved his Armenian opponent. Final report with annotated game.

Central knight duo

4/27/2012 – The sortie 17.Ne5 (diagram) attacks the black queen which is tied to the defence of the Ne4, but also opens the diagonal to g2. What is the bottom line? White ...
A) ... wins material
B) ... loses material
C) ... gets checkmated

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Ilyumzhinov at the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates

4/27/2012 – From April 23-25 Chicago hosted the 12th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, chaired by the former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Among the guests was the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is the patron of the Chess in Schools programme. Ilyumzhinov met with many prominent political, religious and public figures, as our star-studded gallery shows.

Zurich Challenge G5: Draw in 43 moves

4/27/2012 – Coming into the penultimate game tied at 2.5-2.5 Vladimir Kramnik deviated from game one on move eight, but his opponent Levon Aronian was well prepared with a quiet line in the Moscow Variation. The Armenian was able to equalise and offered a draw. But his Russian opponent pressed on and introduced some lively complications. At move 43 they repeated moves for a draw.

Chess Problems: The Self-block problem solutions

4/26/2012 – The two problems set for solving in the last article by David Friedgood were composed by the Indonesian Grandmaster of Composition, Touw Hian Bwee (the three-mover was in collaboration with his compatriot, H Maruta). This composer, whose focus has been mainly on two and three movers, has an exceptional aptitude for theme combinations, as these two problems show. Solutions.

Andrew Martin: The Open Ruy Lopez

4/26/2012 – The Ruy Lopez is one of the most popular openings in chess, named after the 16th century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura, who made a systematic study of this (and other) openings in the 150-page book on chess Libro del Ajedrez written in 1561. 450 years later renown chess trainer Andrew Martin provides us with full intructions on how to play the open variation. Chess Cafe review.

Magnus Carlsen defeats Stephen Colbert 2-0

4/25/2012 – We know he is the strongest in the world, but did you know this was true about rock-paper-scissors? Magnus Carlsen was on the Colbert Report (pronounced Coll-bair Re-por) last night, and after obediently answering the chess questions was challenged by the host to a best-of-three in the well-known hand game. The chess prodigy won convincingly with a perfect 2-0 score. You can watch it here.

Zurich Challenge G4: Draw, Aronian wins rapid game

4/25/2012 – The fourth game of the Zurich Chess Challenge, another Berlin Defense, ended in a draw before the prescribed minimum of 30 moves or three hours. In such cases Swiss law – well, the match rules – prescribe that a rapid game be played, which is not rated or counted in the final score. This exciting game was won by Levon Aronian with the black pieces. Round four report with analysis.

Dubai Open: Five players share first with 7.0/9

4/24/2012 – Specifically: GMs Ni Hua, Baadur Jobava, Mikheil Mchedlishvili, Normunds Miezis and Sandipan Chanda, from four different countries (China, Georgia, Latvia and India). Their performances ranged from 2770 to 2709, with all standing to gain rating points in the next list. Our final report from this interesting tournament in the UAE provides results, games, pictures and video.

Zurich Challenge G3: Kramnik strikes back, evens score

4/24/2012 – On move eleven Levon Aronian sacrificed his queen – and it didn't seem to be preparation, as the opening choice by Vladimir Kramnik was very offbeat – a Scotch Four Knights, something he had never played before. He refuted the very dangerous looking attack of Aronian with precise calculation and went on to win an unusually exciting game – for which we bring you extensive commentary.

Zurich Challenge Aronian-Kramnik: Second game drawn

4/23/2012 – Levon Aronian surprised his opponent by playing 1.e4 instead of his customary d-pawn push. Vladimir Kramnik played in pet Ruy Lopez Berlin, and a moderately tense struggle ended after three hours and 37 moves in a draw. In the post mortem a spectator showed the players a devilishly clever win that both had overlooked. You will never guess who this super-talent was.

CHESS Magazine: Anand vs Gelfand – a preview

4/23/2012 – The build-up to the Anand-Gelfand world championship is in full swing. There is now an official website, and a couple of press releases have been issued. The CHESS editor John Saunders takes stock of the two players, their careers, rating development, scores against each other, their repertoires, and their chances of winning. John even predicts the openings and the character of the winner.

IV Taca Cuca Tournament in Angola

4/23/2012 – For a European, few things could be more adventurous than a trip to Africa, yet nations such as Angola organize events including a women's tournament, with such generous conditions that any preconceived notions against it are soon forgotten. This is why it has grown to attract as many as nine grandmasters such as Viktor Bologan and Sergey Tiviakov. A pictorial report by WGM Alina L'Ami.

Dubai Open: Normunds Miezis leads with 6.0/7 points

4/22/2012 – "Who?" we hear you exclaim. Normunds is a 40-year-old Latvian grandmaster who has won his country's championship twice and played in seven Olympiads. His current rating is a modest 2557, but he has been playing at a 2761 level in this UAE tournament. With two rounds to go nine GMs are in hot pursuit. We bring you results, games, photos and a video report of the blitz tournament.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (82)

4/22/2012 – Historical chess photographs are not always treated as sacrosanct, and the Editor of Chess Notes shows examples of how they have been fabricated, doctored and airbrushed. He examines, in particular, the odd case of a group photograph taken during the Carlsbad, 1907 tournament. Three different versions have been found, with various individuals eradicated for no discernible reason.

Second China Women's Master won by GM Zhao Xue

4/21/2012 – China has long invested in women's chess like few countries, and the Second Women's Master tournament is but a continuation of this legacy. Though it lacked Hou Yifan, China's best female players all competed to shine. In a continuation of her superb form these last twelve months, GM Zhao Xue took clear first in spite of a loss, with Georgian Bela Khotenashvili in second. Final report.

Iweta Rajlich tops two World Champions at First Saturday

4/21/2012 – After taking time off for maternity leave, IM Iweta Rajlich returned to competitive chess last December, anxious to play again. She entered in the First Saturday GM tournament held in Budapest, Hungary, and promptly scored a GM norm, despite two world champions. Her secret? 'When my son Waclav Andrej appeared in the room in the arms of my husband, I was lifted to heaven.'

Zurich Challenge begins with victory for Aronian

4/21/2012 – The Zurich Chess Challenge, a six-game face-off between the world's number two, Armenian GM Levon Aronian, and number three, former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, started with a shocker: Aronian scored an impressive win with the black pieces. The game was broadcast live on the official site and on Playchess, with live video images and GM commentary. Highly enjoyable.

BCC Open: Short wins, returns to the 2700 club

4/20/2012 – British GM and former World Championship challeger Nigel Short beat his main rivals and wrapped up the Bangkok Chess Club Open a full point ahead of the field. With this victory Nigel returns to the 2700 club, where he clearly belongs. After the event there was a rendezvous with some informal blitz on the roof of the hotel. Final report with some breathtaking photos by WGM Kruttika Nadig.

Premature?

4/20/2012 – White is clearly on the ropes, however, if Black tries to solve the position by tactical means, the queen on h6 could prove the saving factor. In concrete terms - the immediate strike 39...Txf3+ after 40.Txf3 Txf3+ 41.Kg2 leads to what?
A) victory for Black
B) equality/perpetual check
C) advantage for White

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.