For a plus pawn...

11/22/2010 – ... one must be able to take something, the second player had thought here liquidating White's passed pawn with 25...Bb5xc6, which was of course followed by 26.Rb1-e1 whereupon all black pieces were directly or indirectly attacked. How would you assess the position now?
A) Black can favourably unpin;
B) no advantage, but the strong b-pawn guarantees Black the draw;
C) Black ultimately loses a pieces.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

First Grand Chess Festival by UNAM in Mexico

11/21/2010 – The event is just huge and is a chess lover's dream come true. It is hosting the Ibero-American Championship, then there is a high-profile bonanza with 10-minute games with stars such as Topalov, Polgar, and Ivanchuk, plus simuls by Karpov and Kasparov, a huge outdoor chess art exhibition, lectures, a recreation of "The Turk", and a giant open. Plentiful pictorial by Nadja Wittmann.

The First International Tournament on the Alps – Livigno Open 2010

11/20/2010 – This could be the highest chess tournament in Europe. It is staged in the pretty Alpine town of Livigno, located at an altitude of 1,816 meters, in an area famous for its scenery, cows, cheese and birth rate (highest in Italy). The inhabitants are convinced that it is more beautiful than the neighboring St. Moritz and set out to prove this with a chess tournament. Big pictorial report by Diana Mihajlova.

New ChessBase Shop - Grand opening (and goodies)

11/19/2010 – We are pleased open the virtual doors to our new online shop, bringing new features to help simplify your purchases, payable also with PayPal and Ducats(!), as well as manage your PlayChess account, and download versions of our programs you bought, with the option to re-download if you need. We are giving away four weeks of Premium Playchess subscriptions too! Let us give you a quick tour.

Kavalek at Huffington: Remembering Larry Evans

11/19/2010 – Larry Evans, who died at the age of 78 this Monday, scored an impressive nine points in ten games in his first Olympiad for the U.S. In 26 years, from 1950 to 1976, he chalked up 64.5/100 points in eight Olympiads. GM Lubomir Kavalek, who played next to him at the 1976 Olympiad in Haifa, shows us one of the most thrilling games of Evans' career in this Huffington Post column.

Aronian wins World Blitz Championship

11/18/2010 – With two rounds to go Lev Aronian had a point-and-a-half lead over his nearest rival, Teimour Radjabov, with last year's winner Magnus Carlsen half a point behind. Aronian lost both the final games, Radjabov lost one too and Carlsen drew both of his. So the Armenian-in-Superform finished alone in first place, with the Azeri and Norwegian in the places. Full illustrated report.

16th Asian Games - Kasimzhanov and Yifan are gold

11/18/2010 – The 16th Asian Games are underway, not to be confuse with the Asian Championship. This is a full-fledged Olympic sport event, with two full chess competitions in it. The first is an individual rapid event, men's and women's sections, followed by a tournament control team event. Rustam Kazimdzhanov and Hou Yifan brought gold to their countries. Here are the individual competitions.

Carlsen and Aronian lead in World Blitz Championship

11/17/2010 – It has become a tradition that this super-strong blitz championship starts immediately after the Tal Memorial tournament – with players from that event and other fresh blood flown in. Twenty participants, double round robin, on three days. After the first third Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian lead with 10.0/14. We bring you results and some dramatic video footage from the first day of play.

I Robot – at Russian Women's Chess Championship

11/17/2010 – The 60th Russian Women's Championship Super Final has started in Moscow. Before it did there was an opening ceremony at the Chess House, with prominent players from the Tal and Blitz Championships in attendence – as well as a simul playing mechanical robot, which earlier had fearlessly mated the chief economic advisor of Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. Pictures and videos.

GM Larry Melvyn Evans (1932 – 2010)

11/17/2010 – On November 15, 2010, at approximately 3 p.m., five-time US Champion Larry Evans died at Washoe Hospital in Reno, Nevada, from complications following a gall bladder operation over two weeks ago. He is survived by his wife, painter Ingrid Evans, and two stepsons. GM Evans is arguably the most versatile figure in American chess history. Eulogy.

Aronian leads by 1½ points in World Blitz

11/17/2010 – Levon Aronian started the second day with a loss and a draw. After that came seven wins, two draws and a loss, to put him way ahead on the scoresheet. But two losses in the final rounds, one against his closest rival Magnus Carlsen, brought the Armenian uberflieger crashing down to earth – still a point and a half ahead of the field! You can watch the action in five hours of streaming video.

Ashley: 'Chess is intellectual karate!'

11/16/2010 – Maurice Ashley is a US grandmaster, commentator and teacher, one of the best in the world. He is also the author of one of our most popular Fritz Trainers ("Aikido chess"). In a remarkable 24-minute "Big Think" interview – of the very highest technical quality, we may add – Maurice gives us insights into his career and his chess thinking. Very revealing, very entertaining – must watch.

FIDE – who is being indecisive?

11/16/2010 – In the past years, even its most ardent supporters will be forced to admit, the World Chess Federation has displayed a remarkable inconsistency in its work for those on whose behalf they are set to act. This is because, as Rune Vik-Hansen argues in this deeply philosophical article, "FIDE and the chess community, which they are set to represent, literally live in different worlds". Summary and full text.

Safarli wins the Chigorin Memorial in St. Petersburg

11/15/2010 – The 17th International Chigorin Memorial Chess Festival was a very strong open that included ten players from the top 100, and – can you guess? – none of these was able to win. That was achieved by GM Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan, who scored 7.5/9 points with a 2787 performance. We bring you games and results – and an extensive pictorial report by Irina Sudakova and Elena Mikheeva.

5th Tal Memorial: Mamedyarov takes lead; Karjakin crushes Kramnik

11/14/2010 – It was an enthralling round, in which fans were able to see it all, enjoy it all. Going into the eighth round, there was a three-way tie for first, which was broken after Mamedyarov overcame his rival, Wang Hao, in a fine game, and took the lead. Shirov also won an explosive game against Pavel Eljanov, but the game of the round was Karjakin's crushing victory over Kramnik. Round eight report.

Kavalek at Huffington: A Disappearing Act

11/14/2010 – When Martina Navratilova won her first Wimbledon it was not mentioned in the Czechoslovakian press. When it was discovered that the name of defector GM Lubomir Kavalek had been included in a chess book the Czech publishers had the page replaced in the entire edition. But at least Kavalek and Navratilova survived the excesses of Communism. Today he shows us puzzles by composers who didn't.

Tal Memorial: Aronian and Karjakin win the title

11/14/2010 – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov scored the same number of points as Levon Aronian and Sergey Karjakin, 5.5/9, but was relegated to third on tiebreak points. The other two appear to be absolutely equal. Three players had a 2800+ performance (one 2799), six gained between three and ten rating points (three lost 8, 12 and 18). We bring you all games, results, statistics and pictures.

5th Tal Memorial: Three-way tie for first after seven rounds

11/13/2010 – Levon Aronian had seemed poised to run away with the tournament after four rounds, but despite good chances, only managed three draws afterwards. This allowed Mamedyarov to rejoin him in round six, with a little gem over Eljanov, and then in round seven, it was Wang Hao's turn to join the leaders after defeating Gelfand. With three more just behind, first prize is up for grabs! Illustrated report.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (50)

11/13/2010 – Aron Nimzowitsch mated Simon Alapin in 18 moves, but the books contradict each other as to where and when this famous brilliancy was played. Did it occur in Carlsbad, Riga, St Petersburg or Vilnius? And in 1911, 1912, 1913 or 1914? The Editor of Chess Notes also casts doubt on the frequent suggestion that it was Nimzowitsch's favourite game.

2010 Women's World Chess Championship - Preview

11/12/2010 – The 2010 Women's World Chess Championship is about to start in Hatay, Turkey, heralding either a new champion, or confirming the incumbent. In 2008, Russian GM Alexandra Kosteniuk survived the knockout match system, and defeated the youngest finalist in history, the Chinese GM Hou Yifan. 64 players are now gathering to fight for the 2010 title. See who they are and read the preview.

The last checkmate – simul record in doubt?

11/12/2010 – "Israel destroys Iran – on the chess board" – the blaring headlines that accompanied GM Alik Gershon's simultaneous chess world record, set up recently in Tel Aviv, have been replaced by skeptical tones. "Chess victory over Iran rigged?" asked in the Israeli newspaper "Yediot Aharonot" and published a list of doubts. We asked the organisers and received a forceful reply.

Anatoly Karpov beats Hou Yifan in Hainan

11/12/2010 – The 59-year-old 12th World Champion from Russia won the first game against the phenomenally talented Chinese prodigy, 43 years his junior. But after that, all the remaining games were drawn, so that Karpov won the match 3.5:2.5. Two of the games were rapid, in one Hou had a chance to equalise. The world's third strongest female player spent the free day learning yoga and martial arts.

The control of the d-file...

11/12/2010 – ... was White's big plus in this game from the current Tal Memorial, and with his last move 20.Rfd1 he aspired to force a decision of the black rook d8. Now the exchange on d6 is...
A) ... good and leads to complete equality;
B) ... bad since after 21.exd6 the attacked Nc7 has to move and the white passed pawn becomes too strong.

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

World Problem Solving Championship – Solutions

11/11/2010 – Last week John Nunn showed us four of the problems that had been given to the participants of this competition that was held on October 19th and 20th in Hersonissos, Crete. They were not easy (it was, after all, a world championship!) and John describes how he went about solving them. And he presents another stunning selection of astronomical pictures. All highly instructive.