Hurry up

12/15/2009 – If you want to improve your understanding of a complex opening with a huge history the best that can happen is to have a really strong player with many years of experience teach it to you. That's exactly what GM Lubomir Ftacnik offers you on his Sicilian Scheveningen and Gruenfeld DVDs. Carsten Hansen from chesscafe.com tested the former thoroughly. Read his review with sampler.

London R5: Carlsen and McShane win

12/14/2009 – Round four of the London Chess Classic saw two decisive games today: Luke McShane defeated Hikaru Nakamura, and Magnus Carlsen stretched his lead to three points after beating Ni Hua with black. In the post-game press conference Magnus charmed everyone to the degree that John Saunders wishes that Britain’s over-zealous passport authorities will not let him out of the country.

World Cup final: Gelfand beats Ponomariov to win the Cup

12/14/2009 – After drawing the regular games Ruslan Ponomariov and Boris Gelfand and into the tiebreaks. They won a rapid chess game each and drew two to proceed to the blitz, where again each won a game. Game three and four went to the Israeli, who thus won the World Cup. Gelfand is now part of the eight-player tournament to find a challenger for the World Champion. Final report and interview.

World Cup final: Ponomariov-Gelfand go to tiebreaks

12/13/2009 – The fourth and final long game of the FIDE World Cup final ended, like the first three, in a (35-move) draw. That left the players, Boris Gelfand of Israel and Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine, tied 2:2 and going into the tiebreaks. The winner earns a place in the FIDE world championship match and pockets $96,000. The runner up gets $64,000. Musically illustrated report.

London R4: All games drawn, but fighting chess

12/13/2009 – Draws like those in round four of the London Chess Classic are exciting and instructive. We know this from following the games live with GM commentary at the venue and on the Playchess server. And after the games chess fans all over the world could listen to all eight players annotating their games. At least two had people holding their breath. Full illustrated report with analysis.

People and personalities at the London Chess Classic

12/12/2009 – Tournaments like the current one in London give us great chess and allow us to see some of the world's finest players up close. But they are also social occasions that bring together a multitude of interesting personalities. Too many to present all in one report. So here is a selection, ranging from players to authors, editors and successful traders. Photo impressions by Frederic Friedel.

World Cup final: Ponomariov-Gelfand 1.5-1.5

12/12/2009 – Yesterday the second game of the FIDE World Cup final ended in a 20-move Catalan draw – nothing to write home about. So we decided to skip a report of our daily coverage. The third game was more interesting, a Grünfeld by Boris Gelfand which ended after 37 moves in another draw. Sunday is the last regular game, after that it is rapid, blitz and armageddon tiebreaks. Illustrated report.

World Cup final: first game Ponomariov-Gelfand drawn

12/11/2009 – The four-game final of the 2009 World Cup has started, with Israeli GM Boris Gelfand playing a Petroff against Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine. The game ended after 37 moves in a draw. We use the opportunity to show you some of the art on display at the playing venue in Khanty-Mansiysk, and the fascination some people feel for the world cup trophies. Illustrated report.

London R2: Kramnik and Carlsen analysed

12/11/2009 – After their games in round two of the London Chess Classic most of the players once again congregated to the commentary room to explain what had just transpired to the audience in London and visitors of the Playchess server. This time it was Nigel Short, David Howell, Vladimir Kramnik, Magnus Carlsen and Luke McShane who shared their impressions. Report by John Saunders.

London R3: Kramnik wins again, Carlsen leads

12/11/2009 – After his first-round loss Vladimir Kramnik is on a winning streak: today he beat Luke McShane with the black pieces. With two wins and one loss he has six points according the "football" scoring system used in London. Magnus Carlsen, who missed a clear win with black against David Howell, has seven points and is in the lead. Giant illustrated report with analysis by John Saunders.

A coffin nail...

12/11/2009 – ... in chess is a pawn which has advanced to the sixth rank in the enemy king position, creating all kinds of mate motifs. Here Black had to decide whether he could allow White's pawn to go to h6 or not. 37...Ra4xe4 in your opinion leads to which result?
A) win for Black;
B) positional draw;
C) win for White.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a  larger version of the diagram.

World Champion Vishy Anand turns forty

12/11/2009 – It seems like just last week that he came visiting for the first time, a highly likeable, immensely talented 18-year-old chessplayer. Today Viswanathan Anand turns forty. He has won all worthwhile titles in chess: world championships, chess Oscars, you name it. In our congratulatory report we look back at dozens of memorable articles on the champ. Join us in wishing him a happy birthday!

London R2: Thirty love – Carlsen beats McShane

12/10/2009 – The rampage of the top seed Magnus Carlsen continues. The 19-year-old Norwegian scored another convincing victory, this time over Luke McShane, to take the lead. Vladimir Kramnik came back from his first-round loss (to Carlsen) with a win over Chinese GM Ni Hua. The other two games were drawn. A report on the game will follow, here for now is Magnus' blog entry and pictures from round two.

A mate attack out of the blue

12/9/2009 – Today will see the first game of the final Gelfand-Ponomariov at the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. Opportunity for us to look back on an exciting moment from the endgame Karjakin-Mamedyarov. The latter has just played 49...Rb2? (diagram), thus giving his young opponent the unexpected chance to decide the game by mating threats. Which surprising move helped the 19-year-old Ukraine to secure victory now? Use this larger diagram to work it out for yourself. Grandmaster Karsten Müller has analysed the endgame Karjakin-Mamedyarov for ChessBase Magazine Online.

Wednesday night training on Playchess

12/9/2009 – Since Ruslan Ponomariov has made it to the finals of the 2009 World Cup, it seems like an auspicious moment to have a look back at prior success of his career. At eighteen he won the FIDE knockout world championship, ahead of Anand, Adams, Morozevich and Ivanchuk. In this week's Playchess lecture by FM Dennis Monokroussos we see one of his great and instructive games. Be there and watch.

London R1 – Carlsen explains his win against Kramnik

12/9/2009 – The London Chess Classic is breaking new ground in a number of areas. The games are being annotated live by two very entertaining experts, who explain everything to the visitors at the Olympia Centre, and at the same time to visitors on the Playchess server. After round one Magnus Carlsen provided his thoughts on the game, for the local guests and for a world-wide audience.

Malakhov and his Slav with 4...a6

12/9/2009 – Vladimir Malakhov is the man of the hour at the World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk. Having beaten his opponents (Smirin, Eljanov and So) in rapid chess, he went on to defeat Peter Svidler in normal chess with the black pieces - and once again with his beloved 4...a6 Slav (which had already downed Pavel Eljanov and Wesley So). Incidentally, the discussed variation - 5.e3 b5 6.c5 g6 - was extensively analysed by Dorian Rogozenco in his contribution for CBM 119. Rainer Knaak has annotated this game.
Svidler-Malakhov on ChessBase Magazine Online...

World Cup R6: Gelfand in the fiinal

12/8/2009 – He was unstoppable: Israeli GM Boris Gelfand, who needed just a draw after yesterday black-piece win, went ahead and beat the elegantly posing Ukainian GM Sergey Karjakin to go through on a 2-0 score. Meanwhile Vladimir Malakhov, Russia, and Ruslan Ponomariov played a second draw and have tiebreak games on Tuesday. Illustrated report.

London Chess Classic 2009 – starts today

12/8/2009 – The tournament, the strongest in London in a quarter century, began with a press conference, the drawing of colours, and a first match – a sharp encounter between Magnus Carlsen and Pat Cash, the 1987 winner of Wimbledon. In tennis. Cash won. The chess games start on Tuesday, with Carlsen playing Kramnik in the first round. Watch it with audio commentary from London on Playchess.

Get ready for 2010: The new ChessBase 10 packages

12/8/2009 – Chess is more fun when you are winning. That is why it has become the gold standard for chess database users. With ChessBase 10 you have immediate online access to almost five million games, from the beginning of chess history to the latest top tournament. The new ChessBase 10 packages also come with the new Big or Mega Database 2010. Place your order now or read more.

World Cup R6: Ponomariov to play Gelfand in the final

12/8/2009 – Ruslan Ponomariov, who in 2002 won the FIDE knockout world championship, has made it to the final of the World Cup 2009. In four rapid chess tiebreak games the Ukrainian GM lost the first but came back strongly to defeat Vladimir Malakhov, Russia, in the next three games and finish with an overall score of 4.0-2.0. Illustrated report.

London R1 – Carlsen beats Kramnik

12/8/2009 – The London Chess Classic began with a very convincing victory by top seed Magnus Carlsen over second seed and former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, who was subtly outplayed by his 19-year-old Norwegian opponent. Luke McShane ground down Nigel Short in a 163-move marathon that lasted seven hours. Game commentary to follow, here's our first picture report.

What was the strongest tournament of all time?

12/7/2009 – The Tal Memorial this year in Moscow? It has been billed as such, but it all depends on how you evaluate such events. If you correct for rating inflation, and especially if you consider the world ranking of the participants, other tournaments easily outstrip this one. Very plausibly AVRO 1938 was the strongest – or at least the most elite, since players #1-8 were present. Jeff Sonas explains.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (32)

12/6/2009 – With the masters now fine-tuning their preparations for the London Chess Classic, the Editor of Chess Notes passes on some advice on mastery of the game culled from old books. Both the advice and the books have long been forgotten, but could the tips provide the players with a fresh perspective, just in time? The great tournament is about to begin, and we shall soon see...