Karpov-Kasparov: Match start in Valencia today

9/22/2009 – Exactly 25 years after their first encounter – the World Championship match in Moscow – the perennial opponents Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov are playing a twelve-game rapid and blitz match in the Spanish city of Valencia. The rounds start on Tuesday at 19:00h CEST (21:00h Moscow, 1 p.m. NY), with two days of rapid games and one for blitz. Watch it on Playchess.

Mukachevo: third game a fighting draw

9/22/2009 – The first two games of this match were both won by Black, after hard and interesting fights. Would White achieve a better result today? Almost. Former World Championship challenger Nigel Short had his younger Ukrainian opponent on the ropes, and only with a strong and imaginative defence could Zahar Efimenko save his bacon. Game three analysis by GM Klaus Bischoff.

Efimenko draws first blood in Mukachevo match

9/21/2009 – The six-game encounter between former World Championship challenger Nigel Short and the promising Ukrainian grandmaster Zahar Efimenko started with musical pomp in the West-Ukrainian town of Mukachevo. In the first game Efimenko showed great style in beating his more famous and higher-rated British opponent with the black pieces. First round report with GM commentary.

Mukachevo: Short strikes back, beats Efimenko with black

9/21/2009 – In the first game the higher-rated player, Nigel Short, was somewhat shockingly defeated by his young Ukrainian challenger Zahar Efimenko, who had the black pieces. Today the British GM struck back with his own very convincing black-piece victory to equal the score. This looks like it's going to be a really hard-fought match. Game two analysis by GM Klaus Bischoff.

'Without major pieces...

9/19/2009 – ...there wouldn't be any weak back ranks,' says an old German chess wisdom which once again hits the mark in the following position, where Black added fuel to the fire with 33...e3. How would you assess the situation now?
A) White achieves victory by deflecting the black queen with 34.a4;
B) advantageous is the rook swap on e8 followed by 35.Qxb6 (despite the rejoinder 35...exf2); 
C) the position is dynamically balanced.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram

Gil and Marsel – Schoolmates and Champions

9/18/2009 – It's been a good chess year for Israel, ranked third in the world behind Russia and Ukraine. The historic silver medal at the Dresden Olympiad was exhilarating, as were a string of individual victories in big events. Now two of the brightest young talents, Gil Popilski and Marsel Efroimski, have won the U16 boys' and U14 girls' European Championships. IM Yochanan Afek reports.

Mikhalchishin and the Arkhangelsk Defence

9/18/2009 – GM Adrian Mikhalchishin is a well-known chess trainer. He has assisted Romanishin, Beliavsky, Anatoly Karpov, the Polgars, the Polish, Dutch and Turkish national teams. He has captained a team with Karpov, Anand, Kramnik, Beliavsky, Short and Gelfand. He is also a leading expert on the Arkhangelsk Variation, and he provides five hours of video lessons on it on this new training DVD.

World Women's Team Championship in Ningbo

9/18/2009 – We promised you one more report from this Chinese tournament, with the lovely photos of Ye Rongguang, who apart from being China's first GM, is an avid photographer. On the free day Rongguang accompanied the players to the Ningbo Museum and Dongqian Lake, where many posed willingly in front of the Song Dynasty statues. We also revisit the controversy over the final round draw.

Media blitz: Kasparov and Carlsen in Oslo

9/17/2009 – A scheduled training session with Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen was used as an occasion to meet the Norwegian press. The two sat down for a friendly game against Education Minister Solhjell, and all three answered questions for a Channel 2 journalist. The government is set to back their brightest chess star, said the Minister, and his country's bid to host a Chess Olympiad. Video report.

Generation encounter: Beliavsky vs Nakamura under scrutiny

9/16/2009 – One, the current US Champion, was born in the year the other, a former World Championship candidate, had just won the Soviet Championship for the third time. Their scintillating encounter, analysed by Dennis Monokroussos in his Wednesday night Playchess lecture, took place earlier this year at the NH Tournament in Amsterdam. Watch and learn on the server.

World Women's Team Championship in Ningbo

9/16/2009 – We reported recently on the event and the results, but with a disgracefully meager number of pictures. We just didn't have any – until suddenly our friend Ye Rongguang, the first Chinese player in history to gain the GM title, sent us a huge quantity. Rongguang is an avid photographer with professional equipment. Here is part one of a giant pictorial: impressions of Ningbo.

T.A.C.T.I.C – a Turkish African Cooperation...

9/16/2009 – ... for Training and Instruction in Chess. The aim is to help in the development of chess federations in Africa, in the critical areas of introducing chess in schools, raising membership, organizing tournaments, getting finances and obtaining sponsorship. The first week of lectures and activities is to be held in a somewhat controversial location: Khartoum, Sudan. Press release of the TCF.

Fritz11: Threatened squares

9/16/2009 – Some of the best Fritz11 beginner features are the ones which give us hints but require us to think for ourselves. One such feature hints at attacks and defenses but makes us figure out why they work as they do. Intrigued? Check out the latest ChessBase Workshop in which the mysteries are revealed...

Tkachiev: Problems with health and acclimatization

9/15/2009 – "I would like to explain the recent incident," writes Vladislav Tkachiev, who caused an international stir by appearing in a near-comatose state for a game at the Kolkata Grandmaster Open. "From the very beginning of the event I experienced problems with health and acclimatization, and had to take strong medications, which obviously affected my ability to play." Tkachiev's statement + reader feedback.

An endangered piece...

9/14/2009 – ... was the white bishop on b3, in view of the threat ...a5-a4, which has prompted White to resort to violent measures with 21.Bxd5. How would you assess the continuation?
A) best, White wins a second pawn with a clear advantage; 
B) not as strong as it looks, Black gets one pawn back by force, leaving him only marginally worse; 
C) this move is actually a mistake, White loses a piece.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (27)

9/14/2009 – The Editor of Chess Notes has taken up a series of questions from a reader in the United States about discrepancies in half-a-dozen Alekhine games played between 1910 and 1942. In several cases it has been far from easy to establish whether the published moves in the great world champion’s games did in fact occur over the board. Readers are invited to join in the hunt for clues.

China wins World Women's Team Championship

9/14/2009 – By the skin of their teeth, we might add, half a tiebreak point ahead of Russia, which took Silver, and 1.5 ahead of Ukraine, which took Bronze. In the final round the Chinese team played Vietnam, which was in last position but appeared to be winning two games against the leaders. However, both were suddenly agreed as drawn, which led to suspicion of match fixing. Report and games.

Advanced enemy pawns...

9/14/2009 – ... in front of your king can really make you nervous, particularly with the major pieces already lined up behind them. Here Black had just played 33. ... Nd5 What is the best move for White now?
A) 34.Bxd4
B) 34.Bxd5
C) 34.Ka1

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

Nunn on Understanding Chess Endgames

9/13/2009 – Initially the grandmaster and chess author Dr John Nunn, who is one of the driving forces behind Gambit Publications, wanted to write an advanced book on endgames. It was to start with a brief survey of all the things the reader would be assumed to know. However, it quickly became clear that the "introductory chapter" would be more like a book in itself, which is now available. Review.

Bilbao Masters: Aronian wins Grand Slam Final

9/13/2009 – Same title as the previous report? Yes, same title. Nothing changed, Levon Aronian could not be caught, and since both games were drawn even the exact oder of the following players remained the same. Aronian had a 2919 performance in Bilbao and is good for a 2784 rating on the next FIDE list – just four points behind the world's second-highest rated player Vishy Anand. Final report.

Bilbao Masters: Aronian wins Grand Slam Final

9/12/2009 – ... with a round to go! Levon Aronian defeated Alexei Shirov to take an unassailable lead of twelve Bilbao points. This means that the Armenian GM, currently number three in the world, is already the winner, and Saturday's final round can change nothing in that respect. Alexander Grischuk defended an interesting endgame against Sergey Karjakin to keep second place. Round five report.

Remembering September 12th 2001

9/12/2009 – Once a year, when the anniversary of the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center comes around, when the media channels are full of memorials and vivid reruns of the events on that horrific day, we remember what we were doing at the time (doesn't everybody?). We were setting up our new ChessBase news page, which was due for launch on September 12th 2001. Here's the first report.

Bilbao Masters: Aronian beats Grischuk, takes lead

9/11/2009 – It was the third consecutive win for Armenia's top grandmaster, after he had lost his first game in Bilabo. And it was the second consecutive loss for the Russian, who had won is first two games in this event. Levon Aronian vs Alexander Grischuk was definitely the game to watch in round four of the Grand Slam Final, which Aronian now leads with nine "Bilbao points". Illustrated report.