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?

Nanjing: Carlsen wins Pearl Spring with 3002 performance

10/10/2009 – In the final round, while we all were still asleep here in Europe, Magnus Carlsen scored a parting victory over Russian GM Dmitry Jakovenko. The other two games were drawn, which left the young Norwegian an unprecedented two and a half points ahead of the field. In the next rating list Carlsen will join the elite group (of just four players) who have crossed 2800. Full illustrated report.

FIDE Women Grand Prix: Xu Yuhua leads

10/9/2009 – The penultimate round of this Women's event was the most important. Two of the ladies in the leading group, Xu Yuhua and Zhao Xue, were able to take full points against players in the middle of the table, while Georgian GM Nana Dzagnidze drew her "remote game" against chicken-pox stricken Batkhuyag Mungutuul. Xu is in the lead by half a point. Pictorial report with commentary.

The king as an attacking piece...

10/9/2009 – ... on enemy territory. That was the theme in this game where White, a piece down, after 49....Be8 (diagram) was facing a difficult choice. Which evaluation of the position is correct?
A) the first player must give perpetual check;
B) he decides the game with 50.Qe4;
C) he wins, but with another move.

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

Nanjing: Carlsen wins Pearl Spring with one round to go

10/9/2009 – Magnus Carlsen drew the black side of a Grünfeld against Teimour Radjabov in the penultimate round to secure sole victory in this Super-GM event. Carlsen has 7.0/9 (= +5), two more than his nearest rival, and his performance so far is 2981. The other two games were also drawn, with all three showing good fighting spirit. Full illustrated report.

FIDE Grand Prix: Chicken pox strikes, Dzagnidze and Xu lead

10/8/2009 – At two in the morning she summoned the hotel doctor, who diagnosed chicken pox. Chief Arbiter Ignatius Leong decided that WGM Batkhuyag Mungutuul of Mongolia could continue playing, in an isolated room, with a face mask and sergical gloves. In the meantime Marie Sebag lost to Baira Kovanova and handed the lead over back to Nana Dzagnidze and Xu Yuhua. Pictorial report.

Order now – Fritz 12 is shipping

10/8/2009 – The wait is over, the English language version of Fritz 12 is now available and shipping to our customers all over the world. It represents a complete rewrite of the famous Fritz interface. The program has been modernized to comply with Microsoft’s “Fluent UI” standard – anyone who knows Office 2007 will feel immediately at home in Fritz 12. Take a look.

Kenya vs. Holland internet match via Playchess

10/8/2009 – It was a splendid idea – why aren't more people doing it? – a match between a Nairobi chess club and a very strong Dutch team. The latter won 6-0, but the former had the pleasure of playing Jan Timman and other great player. All of this was conducted via the Internet on Playchess.com, and cost a fraction of what a face-to-face would have entailed. Big pictorial report by Mehul Gohil.

FIDE Grand Prix: Marie Sebag in the lead

10/8/2009 – After the comet-like start of Georgian GM Nana Dzagnidze a new star has risen in the Nanjing Women's Grand Prix. With a win over former Women's World Champion Zhu Chen it is now French GM Marie Sebag who is in the sole lead. She is followed by Dzagnidze and Chinese GM Xu Yuhua. Pictorial report with commentary by FM Geoffrey Borg.

CNN: Kasparov on chess and politics

10/7/2009 – When he is not watching his charge, chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen, on Playchess, Garry Kasparov is talking to the media giants. CNN's Becky Anderson discussed chess, computers and Russian politics with him. "I started from a totally lost position," says Kasparov on the last subject, "but the Russian opposition still exists." Four and a half minute interview.

The passed pawn on the seventh rank

10/6/2009 – Whenever an opposing passed pawn reaches the seventh rank, the highest level of alarm is appropriate. But if it is possible to neutralise all possible dangers, such a passed pawn can even turn out to be a decisive weakness. In the fourth round of the Pearl Spring Tournament in Nanjing precisely this subject was up for discussion in the game between Jakovenko and Carlsen. (Diagram, White to move). Thanks to some inaccuracies on the part of his opponent, Magnus Carlsen was able to gather in both the opposing passed pawn and the full point. GM Karsten Müller has analysed the endgame Jakovenko-Carlsen for CBM Online.

FIDE Grand Prix: Shen Yang beats Dzagnidze, Marie Sebag catches up

10/6/2009 – GM Nana Dzagnidze was dragged back down to earth, by local player WGM Shen Yang, who beat her with the black pieces. That brought the Georgian's performance down to 2576. Meanwhile French GM Marie Sebag beat Betul Yildiz, also with the black pieces, to catch Dzagnidze at the top of the table. Two Chinese GMs follow half a point behind. Big illustrated report and commentary.

Nanjing: Carlsen, Topalov, Jakovenko win

10/6/2009 – Both had dodgy positions out of the opening, both showed great fighting spirit and worked their way back into the game, ultimately to take the full point. Veselin Topalov beat Peter Leko with the black pieces, and Magnus Carlsen won his fifth game in this event, against Wang Yue. Jakovenko beat Radjabov in 72 moves. Round eight report with commentary by IM Oliver Reeh.