One of the highlights...

8/13/2010 – ... of this year's Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund was the duel between Germany's number one Arkadij Naiditsch and the many times tournament winner Vladimir Kramnik. After a piece sacrifice by Black this position could have occurred. How would you judge the situation following 31...Qf4+ 32.Kb1 Qe4+ now ?
A) White's king can get into safety, his plus piece decides;
B) positional draw (perpetual check);
C) Black wins.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

Karpov proposes Kiev for Candidates matches

8/13/2010 – They were originally scheduled for Baku, Azerbaijan, then moved to Kazan, Russia – in spite of a stern protest by Veselin Topalov. There are still some unresolved issues, e.g. who would fill the wildcard? Now Anatoly Karpov has proposed moving the Candidates matches to Kiev, Ukraine, and nominating former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov as a candidate. Press reports.

Beauty and the Beast

8/13/2010 – After the first series of games of the Chinese Chess League, the players enjoyed a relaxing stay at the (deep breath!) Ningbo Youngor Dapengshan Traveling Vacation Area. A competition between two impromptu teams, Team Beauty and Team Monster was made, with the losers having to go on the scariest rides there. WGM Gu Xiaobing brings pictures and a report on this light-hearted affair.

Hou Yifan wins Ulaanbaatar FIDE Grand Prix

8/12/2010 – She took ill after round seven, played her round eight game on a free day, won five games and drew the rest. Chinese super-talent Hou Yifan, 16, scored 8.0/11 points with a performance of 2649 to win the event. Second was GM Antoaneta Stefanova, a former women's world champion, with three players sharing 3-5th places. Final illustrated report from the closing ceremony.

Male chess players show elevated aggressiveness against women

8/12/2010 – Recent research at Stockholm University shows that equally strong male and female chess players employ different opening strategies. The males tend to play aggressive openings against female opponents of the same playing strength, even if it increases the probability of losing the game. That has to be classified as irrational behavior. Paper by Swedish researcher Patrik Gränsmark.

7th China-Russia match: Rapid Day 1 Chinese beat Russians

8/12/2010 – After a free day with a friendly football match, the Russians might have hoped to rally and recoup from their tough loss in the slow games, but the gloves were off once more as the Chinese repeated their performance almost verbatim. With fifty games to choose from, we instead bring you the report and some tactical highlights to test your skills.

Seventh China-Russia match: Chinese beat Russians in slow games

8/10/2010 – The fifth and last round of slow games of the 7th China-Russia match ended in the strong victory for the Chinese. Led by captain Ni Hua, the men won convincingly, never losing a round, with Bu Xiangzhi scoring an incredible 2928 performance. Ju Wenjun led the women with a 2693 performance. Tomorrow comes the rapid games leg of the match. Here is the report for rounds four and five.

Politiken Cup 2010: Eljanov reels it in

8/10/2010 – The Politiken Cup, held in Denmark, was dominated and won by an unexpected participant, Pavel Eljanov, rated 2755, who was not afraid to put his Elo on the line. The event also served to celebrate Bent Larsen's 75th year, with a rapid match between Svidler (2734) and Heine Nielsen (2700), and two blitz matches, one with the Larsen Opening as theme. Here is the report with videos.

NYT: India swoons over its chess champ

8/10/2010 – It's every chess player's dream: girls gathered in a school auditorium, beaming with pride and nervous with anticipation, waiting to meet the star of their dreams. Not from Hollywood or Bollywood, but from the chess world: Viswanathan Anand. The World Champion has joined the Olympic Gold Quest movement in his country – and is tweeting on Twitter. Vishy-news.

Chess Classic Mainz – Kamsky wins with 10.0/11 points

8/10/2010 – The final result of this rapid chess world championship was decided in the final rounds, partially on the basis of nerves. The reigning US Champion Gata Kamsky stormed through the field of 700 players with 9.0 in the first nine games, to clinch it with two final draws. Kamsky's secret: a New York cap worn backwards. Big illustrated final report.

Hou Yifan bounces back, ready for final showdown

8/10/2010 – Owing to illness the youngest participant in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix had to play her round eight game on the free day. Hou Yifan won it, drew the next and won in round ten. Meanwhile former women's world champion Antoaneta Stefanova won two in succession to come within striking range of tournament victory. The two play each other in the final round. Report from Ulaanbaatar.

All his pieces in play...

8/10/2010 – ... Parimarjan Negi had in his first game at the Young Grandmaster Tournament in Biel and here played 26...Rxd4 in order to force the exchange of the white rook d1. How would you assess the situation after that? 
A) White perishes of his underdeveloped queenside; 
B) he keeps his position together just like that;
C) he wins by force.

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

2010 British Chess Championships

8/9/2010 – In an event where he had over 150 Elo on his closest opponent, Michael Adams justified his favoritism with a crushing 9.5/11 score, undefeated and a point and a half over the second place finisher. GM Nicholas Pert came in clear second with a last-round victory. Jovanka Houska is the 2010 British Women's champion. We bring you many pictures in the pictorial coverage.

Karpov Campaign responds to Nigel Freeman

8/9/2010 – As day follows night, a piece from one campaign follows another. In this case, the the Karpov campaign plays offense and defense in a reply to the interview with the FIDE treasurer we published several days ago. They are particularly emphatic in rejecting the accusation that a Karpov administration would do away with "one nation, one vote," which has been a hotly debated topic.

7th China-Russia match: Hard-fought draw in round three

8/8/2010 – After suffering a setback in the first round, and a disaster in the second, the Russian men finally drew against their Chinese opponents thanks to team captain Potkin's stylish victory. Xiangzhi countered this with a strong attack as Black against Malakhov. The women also drew, though four of the five games were decisive. Round three report.

Arctic Chess Challenge 2010: Kobalia clinches it

8/8/2010 – The Arctic Chess Challenge, an open held in the Norwegian city, Tromsø, brought 164 players from all corners of the world, of which 25 GMs. The event was led by Loek van Wely until the last round, when Mikhail Kobalia clinched it with a dramatic last-round victory. Mexican champion Manuel Leon Hoyos came in second on tie-break. Øystein Brekke reports.

Chess Classic Mainz – twelve players with a perfect score

8/8/2010 – 701 chess players are taking part in this rapid chess world championship – 165 have international titles, and the average rating of the top ten is 2727! After five rounds 12 players still have a perfect 5/5 score, amongst them Aronian, Gashimov, Karjakin, Grishuk, Bologan, Kamsky, Kasimdhzanov. There were simultaneous exhibitions with Anand, Aronian and Kosteniuk. Big illustrated report.

Unanimous Division in Cyprus?

8/7/2010 – Two days ago we published a letter from the Cyprus chess federation that described "unanimous" support for the incumbent FIDE president. Now we have received a letter from Vassilis Aristotelous, Cyprus Chess Federation PR officer and Board member. He disputes that statement and questions the legitimacy of the letter of support for Ilyumzhinov. Apparently the chess community is divided.

7th China-Russia match: Russian men almost whitewashed

8/7/2010 – If in the first round, the Chinese men won their encounter, nothing could have prepared one for the second round where they nearly whitewashed their Russian counterparts by a sizzling score of 4.5-0.5. This time there was no saving grace by the women who were held to a tie, after which the Chinese take the overall lead by 11.5-8.5. Round two report and games.

Womens Grand Prix: Humpy in the lead, Hou Yifan ill

8/7/2010 – The top ranked player GM Humpy Koneru of India lost a game against tenth seed Batkhuyag Munguntuul in round seven, which saw five decisive games. In round eight Humpy scored an important win against Antoaneta Stefanova to take the sole lead, after leader Zhao Xue lost both her games. Second seed Hou Yifan missed her round eight game due to illness – possibly food poisoning.

Zhao Xue leads, Humpy and Hou Yifan in hot pursuit

8/6/2010 – The youngest player, GM Hou Yifan, 16, won two games in succession, while the highest ranked participant, Indian GM Humpy Koneru, scored 1.5/2. Both are now half a point behind the leader Zhao Xue, with a serene plus four and a 2743 performance. The draw rate is a remarkably low 39%. We bring you games, results and pictorial impressions in our rounds 5+6 report.

A difficult decision

8/6/2010 – The fact that even simple looking rook endings can be very tricky is exemplified in this example from the Bundesliga. For the moment the black king is shut off from the kingside, where the pair of white passed pawns is heading for promotion. But Black too can still throw his passed pawn into the balance, which greatly complicates matters. Which continuation do you think still offers Black drawing chances here: 53...Rc4, to support the advance of the passed pawn, or 53...Ra8, to harass the white king with checks?
Analysis by GM Karsten Müller on ChessBase Magazine Online.

FIDE Election: Karpov claims UAE, Ilyumzhinov Cyprus

8/5/2010 – FIDE Presidency candidate Anatoly Karpov has received the backing of the well-known businessman and sports patron Sulaiman Al Fahim, and the UAE Chess Federation. The two announced a $320,000 chess development package for the region. Incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has secured the support of the Chess Federation of Cyprus. Election news.

Kavalek at Huffington: French Aristocrat's Folly

8/5/2010 – The rules of chess can be mastered by young children. But it is notoriously difficult to get them precisely right on paper. Take pawn promotion: "any pawn reaching the eighth (or last) rank can be changed to any piece a player chooses" sounds right. But it is far from watertight and can be easily misinterpreted. This is illustrated in GM Lubomir Kavalek's latest column.