Magnus switches blogs

1/2/2010 – With serious corporate sponsors coming in to support the most exciting sporting hero Norway has had in decades (or ever?) Magnus Carlsen has closed his previous blog, run mainly by father Henrik, and started posting, mainly himself, on the web site of Arctic Securities, one of his sponsors. The old blog informs visitors of the switch and thanks all associates who have helped Magnus in his career.

Russian Superfinal: Closing ceremony

1/2/2010 – After missing a number of Championships Alexander Grischuk returned to the Superfinal in style, winning the event with a 2851 performance. GM Alisa Galliamova won the women's section with a TPR of 2715. At the closing ceremony the organiser Alexander Bakh was awarded the Order of Friendship for his work by the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Final photo report.

Hastings 2009-2010: Five GMs lead after four rounds

1/1/2010 – For heaven's sake, somebody take away this man's Christmas present! Our Hastings reporter Steve Giddins continues to challenge his readership with Latin phrases. Ignorantia legis neminem excusat – ignorance of the law excuses nobody. Having said that, Steve's reports are unusually entertaining and a welcome change from the normally staid reporting we see in chess. Pictures by John Saunders.

The huge space advantage...

1/1/2010 – ... of White in the diagram position was obvious, yet with 24...Qb6 Black had produced the double threat 25...Bxa3 and 25...Nxe5 26.Bxe5 Rxe5. How would you assess the position now?
A) White can win material;
B) he is optically better, but there is nothing concrete;
C) looks are deceptive, the first player is on the defence.

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

The pawn roller

12/31/2009 – After the final rounds of the Russian Championship, our endgames expert Karsten Müller casts an eye back at the remarkable and extremely original endgame Timofeev-Khismatullin from round five. The position in the diagram arose after 50.bxa5, after which the two black rooks had to take up the fight against four linked passed pawns and a knight – and it turned out to be hopeless for them.

Karsten Müller shows you for CBM Online how this unusual position came about and how the game ended.

It's official: Magnus Carlsen is number one!

12/31/2009 – FIDE has just released its January 1st 2010 rating list, and it has the 19-year-old Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen with 2810 in the number one slot, five points ahead of number two Veselin Topalov, and twenty points above World Champion Viswanathan Anand. Magnus is the youngest player to cross the 2800 mark and to top the world rankings. Congratulations!

Russian Superfinal: Grischuk and Galliomova win

12/30/2009 – There were chances of a late-round upset, but in the end the two leading players stayed in front, winning the men's and women's sections by half a point. Alexander Grischuk had a 2851 performance that will put him on place nine in the world on the next rating list. Alisa Galliamova won the women's title with a 2715 performance. The two picked up $25,000 and $11,700 respectively. Final report.

Pal Benko improves on Troitzky

12/30/2009 – In 1856 the great Sam Loyd composed a chess problem, which 75 years later inspired Alexey Troitsky, one of the greatest composers of endgame studies, to create a puzzle with a similar theme. It proved to be flawed. 75 years after Troitzky another great composer, Pal Benko, took up his problem, improved on it and submitted it for our Christmas Puzzle page.

Morphy vs Staunton – the match that never was

12/29/2009 – When 21-year-old Paul Morphy travelled to Europe in the summer of 1858 he destroyed all opposition. Except for one of Europe's chess heroes, who avoided a confrontation. Howard Staunton would only play consultation games, where you can blame a loss on your partner. In his Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos shows us an interesting example. Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET.

Hastings 2009-2010: Laudator temporis acti

12/29/2009 – That's a praiser of past times, conservative, old fashioned, classic. It describes our reporter at the International Chess Congress in Hastings – 28th December 2009 through to 5th January 2010 – but also the event itself. Steve Giddins, who received a Latin phrasebook for Christmas, is said reporter. We are using "oldstyle" ChessBase diagrams to keep him happy. Round one report.

Both kings threatened by discovered check...

12/28/2009 – ... was the situation in this recent game from the German Bundesliga, where White to play had to calculate the consequences of 27.Rf7-f4+. How would you assess the position after that (diagram)?
A) White is better; 
B) the position is balanced; 
C) Black has the advantage.

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

Korchnoi vs Spassky finish 4-4 in Elista

12/27/2009 – The "Battle of the Giants" between tenth World Champion Boris Spassky, 72, and multiple World Championship challenger Viktor Korchnoi, 78 began with the latter pressing. But in the second half of the match it was Spassky who called the shots. He won two games and blundered away a good position in a third. Not bad after almost seven years of "hibernation". Report and games.

Russian Superfinal: Grischuk leads, Galliomova 6.5/7

12/27/2009 – Alexander Grischuk and Peter Svidler both won in round six and drew in round seven to maintain their places at the top of the table. Grischuk has 5.0/7 with a 2833 performance, Svidler 4.5/7 at 2778. In the women's section Alisa Galliamova has conceded a single draw. She lead by a full point, with a 2868 performance, but can still be caught, e.g. by Nadezhda Kosintseva. Report by Misha Savinov.

Russian Superfinal: Grischuk leads, Galliomova 5.0/5

12/26/2009 – There were four decisive games in round five of the men's section, with one sensation: the leader, Peter Svidler, lost to the youngest participant, 16-year-old Sanan Sjugirov of Kalmykia. That put Alexander Grischuk, who won his game, in the sole lead. In the women's section IM Alisa Galliamova continues her rampage and is leading by a full point. Games and statistics.

To exchange or not to exchange?

12/26/2009 – Correct evaluation of pawn endings is an important pillar of good endgame technique. So, e.g., in the following position Black had to come to a  judgment as to whether, after the exchange of rooks with 47...Rxe2 48.Kxe2, the ensuing pawn ending is a draw. Otherwise, he would be obliged to do without the exchange and to defend the rook ending.
What do you think? Does the exchange of rooks lead to a drawn position?

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

Anand: 'I can tell you that Nielsen will be on'

12/25/2009 – Those were the exact words that led to the misunderstanding of an Indian journalist and the viral spread of the report that Magnus Carlsen would be one of the seconds of World Champion Viswanathan Anand in his Sofia match against Veselin Topalov. One of our readers sent video footage, and also a delightful Christmas report on Anand's visit in Bangalore.

Russian Superfinal: Svidler, Galliomova lead

12/24/2009 – In the men's section only 50% of the games have been drawn so far – an excellent quota. After four rounds Peter Svidler leads with three points, followed half a point behind by Grischuk and Jakovenko. In the women's section the draw quota is a breathtaking 20%. IM Alisa Galliamova is leading with a clean score of 4.0/4 points. Illustrated report.

The end of the beginning of the end

12/23/2009 – A novelty on move 36, one which nobody can refute? That happened not with the help of a contemporary sixteen-core machine, but back in the Orwellian year of 1984, in a game from the Soviet Championship. The beginning of the end of chess? No, as Dennis Monokroussos shows us in this week's Playchess lecture. The resolution came from GM Mihail Marin in March this year. 9 p.m. ET.

Norway provides US $12 million for Olympiad bid

12/23/2009 – Good news. Boosted by the world number one place of Magnus Carlsen, the Government of Norway has just released the sum of NOK 70 million ($12 million) to support the bid of Tromsø, an island city in the Arctic Circle, to host the 41st Chess Olympiad in 2014. It would be a great place for chess players to go, as we have shown in many past reports. Today we add to these with a whale of a story.

Speculation about Carlsen being Anand's second

12/23/2009 – An article in the Indian newspaper The Telegraph set off a flurry of excitement in news pages and chess blogs. "Magnus Carlsen will be one of my seconds [in Sofia]," World Champion Vishy Anand was quoted as saying. A misunderstanding, since Magnus, who is a great friend and will surely root for Anand, will not be assisting him in at the 2010 World Championship. Details.

Russian Championship Superfinal starts in Moscow

12/22/2009 – Top seeds Peter Svidler and Alexander Grischuk lead after two rounds with 1.5 points each. The ten-player round robin is a category 18, missing only Kramnik and Morozevich. There is also a also a Women's Championship, with the top-rated Kosintseva sisters. Number one seed Tatiana lost her first game and drew the second, while sister Nadezhda started with 2.0/2 points. First report.

Malakhov wins the Ninth Amplico in Warsaw

12/22/2009 – Vladimir Malakhov – not the soccer star, the ice hockey player of dancer, but the 29-year-old physicist and chess grandmaster – has won this very strong rapid chess event in Poland last weekend. He did it by defeating Alexei Shirov with the black pieces in the final round. Second was Vassily Ivanchuk, who defeated top seed Vugar Gashimov in the round 13. Pictures, results and games.

Third Asian Indoor Games in Ha Long, Vietnam

12/21/2009 – The first were held in 2006 in Doha, Qatar; the second a year later in Macau. The third edition in Vietnam saw 4500 athletes from 45 Asian countries competing in 24 sports – including chess. There 19 countries participated. China won three Gold, two Silvers and a Bronze, India won Bronze in all four categories. Pictorial report by Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (33)

12/20/2009 – ‘Goal-oriented oppositionally paired dualities’ are certainly enjoyed by our readers, whether they realize it or not. In plain English, the term means ‘games’, but not all authors seem capable of writing plainly. A selection of pretentious and trite passages about our beloved duality is offered by the Editor of Chess Notes in an article which is guaranteed to have your head spinning well before Christmas.