Pocket Fritz 4: installation, activation, update

1/15/2010 – A new version of our pocket-sized grandmaster was released in mid December. It contains the chess engine Hiarcs 13, about which you may have read in our Copa Mercosur report. The program, as it is suggested by the DVD cover, is a complete multitask tool for training and enjoying chess. In a new series we introduce you to this Swiss penknife amongst chess programs, starting with the basics.

Wijk aan Zee Super-GM starts on Saturday

1/14/2010 – We hear a collective sigh of relief: after the Tal Memorial, the World Blitz, the London Chess Classic and the World Team Championship (ended yesterday), some chess fans out there were feeling a twinge of withdrawal. Not to worry: top GMs are currently arriving in the Dutch seaside town for the annual chess festival. We will provide full coverage on Playchess. Here are the tournament details.

Bursa: Russia wins Gold, USA Silver, India Bronze

1/13/2010 – Going into the final round with a one match point lead Russia cleared all doubts by defeating Israel 3-1. USA drew Azerbaijan on all four boards and came second, while India trounced Brazil 3.5:0.5 to overtake the Azeris and win Bronze. Best performers were Mamedyarov and Vitiugov, the best on the top boards was Hikaru Nakamura. Final report.

Bursa: Aronian beats Nakamura, Russia in the lead

1/13/2010 – All good things come to an end, and Hikaru Nakamura's 3061 was dampened by a loss to Levon Aronian (Hikaru is now playing at a modest 2894 level). Armenia beat USA 2½-½, while Russia crushed Egypt 3½-½ to take the lead with 13 match points to 12 for the US. Two teams are in striking distance before the last round, which starts three hours earlier. Report and games.

FIDE World Blitz Championship 2010 Internet Tournament

1/13/2010 – On February 18, 2010, during the Aeroflot tournament, a double nine-round Swiss blitz tournament will be held in Moscow – a qualifier for the World Blitz Championship to be held in November 2010 after the Tal Memorial. Would you like to take part in the Feb. 18 tournament? Three places, including flight expenses and hotel in Moscow, are available to the winners of this FIDE Playchess qualifier.

Training in style – Kasparov and Carlsen in Marrakech

1/13/2010 – When you are the world's number one player, and when your coach is the legendary Garry Kasparov, then you don't go into training camp just anywhere. Magnus Carlsen travelled to Morocco, took residence in a five-star garden hotel, and conducted intense preparation for the Wijk aan Zee super-GM. The two also played a double simul for their hosts. We have games.

ChessBase show: Rubinstein-Alekhine, Karlsbad 1911

1/12/2010 – We continue this week with our second look at the chess of the great Akiba Rubinstein, one of the greatest players never to become world champion. Rubinstein was a supreme master in all phases of the game, of course, but his endgame skill was legendary. A lofty claim, but we'll see clear evidence for this in this week's Playchess lecture by Dennis Monokroussos. 9 p.m. EST.

Bursa: Turkey beats Israel, USA leads the field

1/12/2010 – The big surprise in round seven was Turkey's 2½-1½ win over Israel (Sutovsky and Rodshtein lost to Yilmaz and Esen). The USA beat Greece with the same score, while Russia drew Armenia. That meant that the US is now in the sole lead, with twelve match points to Russia's eleven. Azerbaijan and India follow with nine match points each. Two rounds to go.

Bursa WTC: Nakamura beats Gelfand in round five

1/10/2010 – We single this round and this game in the World Team Championship in Bursa, Turkey, because of its sheer audacity. Hikaru Nakamura of the US, facing the world's number six, Boris Gelfan, with the black pieces, sacrificed a knight on move 23, left his queen hanging to a pawn and won in great style. After six rounds Russia and the US lead. Illustrated report.

Asian Indoor Games in Ha Long – pictorial impressions

1/9/2010 – In December we reported in detail on the Third Asian Indoor Games, where teams from 19 countries participated in the chess section. The story was so extensive that we were unable to include all the pictures sent in by our reporter. We bring you these impressions from a location that is a "New Seven Wonders of the World" candidate. Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh reports.

World Team Championship in Bursa, Turkey

1/9/2010 – This event is held in a four-year cycle, and this year, in spite of the absence of China, it is fielding a dozen players rated 2700 or higher. After four rounds Armenia and USA lead, in match and board points, with Russia, Israel and India tied for 3-5 on match points. You can watch the games on the official site and on Playchess. Illustrated report.

Joueuse – Queen to Play

1/9/2010 – "Attention all nerds and former high-school science-club members: finally there is a movie that shares your belief that chess should be a magnet for hot babes and sex." Not our words, but those of the Miami Herald reviewer Rene Rodriguez. This film stars Sandrine Bonnaire and Kevin Kline (in his first French-speaking role), and premiered in Germany on Friday. Trailers.

The automatic recapture...

1/9/2010 – ... of the bishop was what White expected in this position after 25.Bxg7, yet immediately after his move he suddenly realised the possibility 25...Qxb3 26.axb3 Rba6. How would you assess the situation after that?
A) Black checkmates;
B) this eventually leads to a position with equal chances; 
C) White gets the advantage.

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

Kamsky catches Almasi, wins Reggio Emilia 2010

1/8/2010 – Before the final round of this prestigious Italian tournament seven-time Hungarian champion Zoltan Almasi was a full point ahead. But he had to face his main rival, Gata Kamsky, with the black pieces. The US grandmaster played a dashing exchange sacrifice on move 17 to take the game and the overall tournament victory. Second was Almasi, third Fabiano Caruana. Final report.

Grandmasters and Global Growth

1/7/2010 – Professor Kenneth Rogoff is a strong chess grandmaster, who also happens to be one of the world's leading economists. In a Project Syndicate article that appeared this week Ken sees the new decade as one in which "artificial intelligence hits escape velocity," with an economic impact on par with the emergence of India and China. He uses computer chess to illustrated the point.

Karjakin: 'I don't consider Magnus my principal rival'

1/7/2010 – He became a grandmaster at the age of twelve years and seven months – the youngest in history. Sergey Karjakin, who turns twenty next Tuesday, is ten months older than Magnus Carlsen, the current number one in the world rankings. In the magazine Segodnja Sport the former Ukrainian, who is lives in and plays for Russia, tells us about his chess programme, marriage and life in Moscow.

Reggio: Almasi leads by a full point

1/6/2010 – With one round to go the seven-time Hungarian champion Zoltan Almasi has scored 6.5/8, a full point ahead of his nearest rival, Gata Kamsky. Almasi has won five of his last six games, including a key game against Viktor Bologan in round six. His performance: 2859. Kamsky and Almasi face each other tomorrow in the final round. Pictorial report.

Hastings: Four players tie for first with 7.0/9

1/6/2010 – The 2009-10 Hastings Masters ended in a fourway tie for first place, between Mark Hebden of England, British Champion David Howell, Andrei Istratescu of Roumania, and Romain Edouard of France. In the final round Hebden and Istratescu halved out in 11 moves, but Howell had to fight for a black victory. Our report on the last two rounds includes a big pictorial of lesser-known players.

Akiba Rubinstein – 99 years ago

1/6/2010 – In 1910 Emanuel Lasker was World Champion, but the arguably strongest player in the world was the Polish master Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1882–1961), a dominant figure in tournament chess who was winning most events and in glorious style. In this week's Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos looks at a game or two of his from the 1911 tournament in Karlsbad. 9 p.m. ET

The highest rated players of all time

1/5/2010 – According to the current FIDE rankings Magnus Carlsen is the strongest player in the world. But his rating of 2810 is not the highest ever. That was achieved by Garry Kasparov, who in the July 1999 FIDE list reached 2851 points. Two other players have at some stage had higher ratings than Magnus. Here's a list of all Super-GMs (over 2700) and their top ratings.

Barriers

1/5/2010 – An active king often plays a decisive part in rook endings. If it can support a passed pawn in its advance, then the king and pawn form an extremely deadly duo. So the ability of the rook to cut off the king horizontally or vertically from one of the theatres of war and thus to restrict its activity is an important weapon in the arsenal of endgame technique. Karsten Müller has selected a recent endgame in which the theme of the barrier and the struggle against it are in the foreground.

Analysis of Brynell-Popov for ChessBase Magazine Online.

Hastings: Seven players lead with 5.5/7

1/4/2010 – A Ukrainian, Czech, Romanian, and thank heavens three Brits lead at the traditional Hastings International Chess Congress. David Howell lost a winning position after a blunder in round five, but picked up two points in the next two rounds to join the leaders. Our correspondent in situ, Steve Giddins, continues to taunt us with Latin phrases, but has at least the kindness to provide translations. Of sorts.

Almasi, Kamsky lead in Reggio, Bologan without draws

1/3/2010 – The 52nd Reggio Emilia tournament 2009-10 is taking place from December 28th 2009 to January 6th 2010. After five rounds Zoltan Almasi and Gata Kamsky are in the lead, with 3.5/5 points each. But the hero is Viktor Bologan, who lost his first two games and won the next three. That is fighting spirit and contributes to the low drawing average of 44%. Pictorial report.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (34)

1/2/2010 – Lucidity is the hallmark of good chess instruction, but what happens if the teacher has no conception of intelligibility? The Editor of Chess Notes dips into the wordy world of the ‘grand left oblique aligned en appui with major crochet’, where ‘designations for posting disparity are u lead and (u) lag’. Recommended for code-breaking practice...