Opening surveys in CBM 132

10/19/2009 – If an author himself plays what he is writing about, this is certainly an advantage. If on top of that he has been employing a variation for almost 20 years successfully against the strongest opponents, then anything he has to say is a revelation. Michal Krasenkow is the greatest specialist of the King's Indian with 6.h3. In his three-part article (CBM 132-134), he lets you in on plans, ideas, variations and secrets of this somewhat underrated system against the King's Indian. Here is the complete Part 1 which deals with lines without 6...e5. The DVD of CBM 132 contains eleven further opening articles. Krasenkow: King's Indian with 6.h3

Magnus Carlsen on Golden Goal

10/19/2009 – Johan Golden is a Norwegian TV host and a colorful figure in the country's comedy, musical and political scene. In his show Golden Goal he recently had a special guest: Magnus Carlsen, Norway's chess wonder and one of the greatest sports heros the country has had. A light-hearted trademark Golden exchange (in Nowegian) ensues. We bring you a video and English transcript.

Prime Minister Borissov vouches for World Championship

10/19/2009 – Bulgaria's newly elected Prime Minister, Boyko Metodiev Borissov, has delivered a three million Euro guarantee for the World Championship match Anand vs Topalov to be held in Sofia next year. "I personally guarantee the budget of three million euro for the match and we will be ready to transfer the money and to sign the contract with FIDE in two months from now," Borissov writes. Facsimile.

Start of the German Bundesliga season 2009/2010

10/18/2009 – The Schachbundesliga is the strongest team competition in the world. The 2009/10 season started this weekend, with the top matches taking place in Solingen, where the German champion Baden-Baden faced the top teams of Solingen and Remagen, Eppingen, Wattenscheid and Hamburg, where we spent a pleasant afternoon watching the action. Pictures, results and games.

FIDE Candidates Tournament split between two venues

10/18/2009 – The 2011 World Championship challenger is decided in a Candidates Tournament with eight participants (including World Chp and Grand Prix winners). At the 80th FIDE Congress in Greece this week FIDE decided, remarkably, that the tournament, scheduled for 2010/2011, would be split into two parts, to allow candidate Levon Aronian, who is from Armenia, to avoid playing in Azerbaijan.

Mate is in the air...

10/17/2009 – ... in this position where you are to decide which of the following assessments are true - one, two or even all three?

A) White checkmates by force after ...Rxa6; 
B) White checkmates by force after ...Bxc6, 
C) Black can checkmate himself.

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

US Women's Championship: jazz, blindfold and hula chess

10/17/2009 – The opening festivities at the 2009 US Women's Chess Championship lasted two days and included a jazz concert, a bounty blitz tournament and a five-board simultaneous blindfold exhibition by Anna Zatonskih. There was also a demonstration of hula-chess, a new variant of the game that made it to the Francis M. Naumann gallery in New York and Fox news. Pictures and videos.

Breaking news: Sofia awarded World Championship 2010

10/16/2009 – In today's meeting of the 80th FIDE Congress in Halkidiki bids for a world championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov were presented: Sofia, backed by the Bulgarian government, undertook to provide three million Euros for prize, organisational costs and FIDE fees. The world championship, scheduled for April 2010, was awarded to Sofia.

'ChessBaby' Almira hits the poker world

10/16/2009 – Almira Skripchenko is an International Chess Master, rated 2450. She has won the World U16 title, the European Women's Championship and a number of other top events. Originally from Moldova, she now lives in France and is moving away from chess – to poker. Recently she made it to the final table at the World Series in Las Vegas. Portrait and interview.

Carlsen withdraws from European Team Chamionship

10/15/2009 – It came as a shock to some: after discussing the matter with his trainer Garry Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen has decided to skip a planned participation in the ETCC, which takes place from Oct. 21-31 in Novi Sad, Serbia. Instead he will concentrate on rest and preparation before the Tal Memorial (Moscow, 5-14 Nov.), where he faces Anand, Aronian, Kramnik and Ivanchuk. Press reports.

Photo impressions of the 2009 US Women's Championship

10/15/2009 – It was won, as you know, by Anna Zatonskih, who scored a remarkable 8.5/9, leaving the next best player two points behind. The tournament featured the highest ever prize fund in US Women's Championship history – over US $64,000, of which Anna picked up a cool $15,000. And a pair of glamorous Susan's Costume Shoes. Big pictorial by Betsy Dynako.

Magnus' mighty knights

10/15/2009 – Magnus Carlsen's victory in Nanjing belongs to the twenty best tournament results of all time; with white he even succeeded in winning all games (5). His encounter with Wang Yue resulted in a complicated endgame in which, due to the reduced material, a draw seemed more than probable. However, Magnus' knights managed to lay so many pitfalls that finally Black stumbled after all. GM Karsten Müller has annotated this impressive endgame for ChessBase Magazine Online, explaining among other things what importance the Troitzky line has here. Endgame analysis of Carlsen-Wang Yue.

Revisited: Botvinnik-Capablanca, AVRO 1938

10/14/2009 – It is one of the most famous games in chess history, one which used to be a part of every player's education back in the book era. It has even found its way on to a postage stamp. In his Wednesday night Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos takes another look at the heavyweight battle between two all-time greats. Be there at 9 p.m. ET or 3 a.m. CEST.

Anna Zatonskih wins second consecutive US Women's Championship

10/14/2009 – Remember the very dramatic final playoff game between Anna Zatonskih and Irina Krush? The former won the title with milliseconds on the clock. This year it was calmer sailing for Anna, who won the event one round before it finished. In the end she had a very impressive score of 8.5/9, with Camilla Baginskaite trailing two full points behind. Big illustrated report with pictures by Betsy Dynako.

Should we abolish women's chess titles?

10/14/2009 – Women make up about 10% of the World Chess Federation's estimated one million members. The caliber of the top female players is rising dramatically, yet FIDE persists in the "anachronistic and demeaning practice of awarding separate titles for women at lower levels of accomplishment." Time to drop gender-segregated titles for women, says Barbara Jepson in the Wall Street Journal.

New photos of Bobby Fischer – part two

10/14/2009 – In an earlier report we brought you a series of new pictures of the reclusive World Champion Bobby Fischer, during his 1973 visit ot the Philippines at the invitation of President Ferdinand Marcos. Today we have screen shots of the same visit from a second video that appeared on YouTube, together with one of an earlier (1967) visit for a "Beat Bobby Fischer" match. Again: strangely moving.

Washington Square Park simul given by – an AMP can

10/13/2009 – AMP is an energy drink distributed by PepsiCo under the Mountain Dew brand. The makers have launched a campaign where a person wearing an AMP can costume challenges athletes to a game of whatever they are good at. Recently it was chess, in a well-known hustler's paradise. The AMP can man – obviously a disguised grandmaster – gave a ten-board simul. Anyone know who he was?

Chess and Music Festival in the Château de Villandry

10/13/2009 – A Renaissance château on the banks of the River Loire, with splendid gardens and stately rooms. The owner a great chess enthusiast, as well as a music aficionado. The participants: two young French players and two from China. The event: a friendship match which includes a "mixed double". And on the side: a concert of Chinese and French classical music. We have pictures and videos.

Nana Alexandria – a Pillar of Women's Chess

10/13/2009 – Born in Poti, Georgia (USSR), Nana learned chess at the age of four. At ten she started formal lessons and within six months became the girls’ champion of Tbilisi. By the age of twenty she had won the USSR Women’s Championship three times. Traumatically she missed becoming World Champion by tiny margins, but devoted her life to promoting women's chess. Today Nana Alexandria turns sixty.

Facts and figures: Magnus Carlsen's performance in Nanjing

10/12/2009 – With his 8.0/10 score at the recent Pearl Spring tournament 18-year-old Magnus Carlsen will certainly go into the record books. But how does his result fit among the all-time great performances? Using a new formula that takes the length of a tournament or match into consideration, chess statistician Jeff Sonas evaluates Magnus' Nanjing performance and puts it into historical perspective.

London Chess Classic 2009 – prepare for the best

10/12/2009 – Once a great world center of chess, London is once again playing host to a very high level tournament, the highest in the city for 25 years. Participants in the eight-player Category 19 include Carlsen, Kramnik, Nakamura, Short and Adams. The event will be staged in December at the Olympia Conference Centre in West London. There will be free live broadcast on the Internet. Tournament details.

New photos of Bobby Fischer published – part one

10/12/2009 – The legendary eleventh World Champion died on January 17, 2008. A year and a half later new pictures have emerged that show Bobby Fischer after his win against Boris Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972, just before he went into reclusive hiding, initially in Pasadena, California. The pictures are from a visit to the Philippines, Tokyo, Hong Kong in 1973. Unusual and strangely moving.

FIDE Women Grand Prix: Xu Yuhua wins

10/11/2009 – In 2006 she won the Women's World Championship in Ekaterinburg, three months pregnant at the time. Now GM Xu Yuhua has won the FIDE Women Grand Prix in Nanjing, with 8.0/11 points and a 2619 performance. The final round leading to this victory was especially dramatic in a tournament that produced a sensationally low 33.3% draw average. Big final pictorial report.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (28)

10/10/2009 – Readers in Belgium, Sweden and the United States have posed questions to the Editor of Chess Notes about the accuracy of certain published game-scores involving such luminaries as Bogoljubow, Fine, Réti and Tartakower. Some detective work was called for, but would it prove possible in each case to piece together what really happened over the board?