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.

Parimarjan in Paris – portrait of a young super-talent

9/11/2009 – In continuation of our Paris Championship report we follow the successful chess career of a young Indian grandmaster. Parimarjan Negi participated at his first tournament when he was four, and became a grandmaster at 13, the second youngest in chess history. Now 16, his freshest victory was at the recent Politiken Cup in Denmark. Diana Mihajlova spent a day in Paris with Parimarjan.

A genial genius at work – Tal blindfold simul in video

9/10/2009 – The wonder that is YouTube occasionally throws up something really fascinating. We have a great example – a ten-minute video that shows a blindfold simultaneous display, given by the immortal Mikhail Tal. The date is unclear and the commentary is all in Russian, but we have prepared a summary transcript in English. We were even able to reconstruct four game fragments. Must watch.

Bilbao Masters: Aronian beats Shirov, Karjakin beats Grischuk

9/9/2009 – What an unusual tournament: at halftime we note that there has been just one undecisive game (drawing average 16%!). Today Sergey Karjakin defeated the tournament leader Alexander Grischuk, while Levon Aronian beat Alexei Shirov with the black pieces to join Grischuk in the lead, both now having six Bilbao points. Illustrated round three report.

Astronaut Fuglesang in trouble – in space chess game

9/9/2009 – On August 28 Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang blasted off into space, on the 128th mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program. He conducted a seven-hour space walk at the International Space Station, and also continued his chess game against the readers of a Swedish newspaper. Both the astronaut, who has a tough position, and his opponents have lovely prizes waiting for them.

World Champion Viswanathan Anand visits Durban

9/9/2009 – It was a memorable experience for all involved, and an auspicious one too: Durban Chess Club was celebrating its 116th birthday! World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand visited the Kwazulu Natal Province of South Africa on a good-will tour, arranged by his sponsor NIIT. Speeches, dinners, lectures, simul – the World Champion was in his element. Big illustrated report by Desmond Rooplal.

For young and old – chess celebrations in Odessa

9/8/2009 – On 2 September 2009, for the fourth straight year, chess events were in the programme of the birthday celebrations in Odessa, once the fourth largest city of Imperial Russia, nowadays the fourth largest city in Ukraine – and always the best. Which is logical: none other than Efim Geller was officially recognised as the best sportsman of Odessa of the 20th century. GM Mikhail Golubev reports.

Bilbao Masters: Girschuk strikes again, beats Shirov

9/8/2009 – Alexander Grischuk, fresh from victory in the Moscow Blitz tournament, is on a rampage in the Grand Slam Final in Bilbao. The Russian grandmaster won his second game, this time with fine endgame play against Alexei Shirov. Meanwhile Levon Aronian struck out against an ill-prepared Sergey Karjakin to put three Bilbao points behind his name. Round two report.

Should one wake a sleeping chess player?

9/8/2009 – Amazing. The international discussion on chess subjects is currently centered around the question of whether it is ethical (and conformant with the rules) to wake a player who has fallen asleep in the middle of his game. This happened to GM Vladislav Tkachiev, who in round three of the Kolkata Open clearly displayed 'methylated somnolence', as tournament participant Nigel Short calls it.

Breaking news: Carlsen and Kasparov join forces

9/7/2009 – It was the best-kept secret of the year: Magnus Carlsen, at 18 already the fourth highest ranked player in the world, has won the legendary Garry Kasparov, arguably the greatest player in chess history, as his personal trainer. The goal is to make Magnus the world's number one in the course of the coming year. The Norwegian newspaper VG has broken the news.

The Tkachiev incident: the arbiter replies

9/6/2009 – At the Kolkata Grandmaster Open one of the top seeds, GM Vladislav Tkachiev, appeared for his round three game in an intoxicated state, fell asleep at the board and was ultimately declared the loser. In our previous report we published a letter from one of the participants criticising the arbiter for waking the grandmaster. Is that a breach of the rules? Not so, says R. Anantharam.

Bilbao Masters: Girschuk beats Aronian

9/6/2009 – The II Grand Slam Final Chess Master 2009 has begun, in Bilbao, Spain. In the first round a well-prepared Alexei Shirov played an Anti-Moscow and drew in 24 moves with black against Sergey Karjakin. Top seed Levon Aronian was smoothly outplayed by Russian GM Alexander Grischuk. There is a special scoring system in place, which sees Grischuk in the lead with three points. Illustrated report.

Kolkata Open: inebriated grandmaster forfeits game

9/5/2009 – An incident at this grandmaster tournament in India has made it to the national and now the international broadsheets: one of the top seeds, GM Vladislav Tkachiev, who recently won the French Championship, appeared for his round three game in an intoxicated state, fell asleep a number of times at the board and was ultimately declared the loser. Details.

Nigel Short on being number one in Britain again

9/4/2009 – This week Nigel Short, aged 44, crossed the elite 2700 barrier once again, regaining the England number one spot he had lost for years. It was yet another twist in the remarkable career of the Athens-resident Englishman. We spoke to Nigel about form, longevity, and the secret of surviving at the top of world chess at middle age. Must-read interview.

Did Lenin and Hitler face off at a chess board?

9/4/2009 – A controversy is raging in the news media over a picture being put on sale by the British auction house Mullock’s. It depicts Hitler and Lenin playing chess, in 1909, when they are supposed to have met in Vienna. The etching, by Hitler's Jewish art teacher, has a preliminary price of £40,000. But is it genuine? The chess historian Edward Winter introduced us to the topic some years ago.

Missed tactical opportunities...

9/4/2009 – ... in games on the very highest level truly are a rare occurrence. Yet sometimes... Okay, this is what happened: 36.Nxf6+ Rxf6 37.Rxf6 Qxf6 38.gxf4 gxf4 39.Qe2 and soon after the peace pipe was smoked. How would you judge this sequence?
A) the moves were correct, so the draw was the logical result.
B) Black missed a forced win on the way.
C) using a little trick, White could have obtained a clearly better endgame.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram

Akobian defaults on six million dollar match in Las Vegas

9/3/2009 – Despite the admonitions of our readers we are once again unable to resist. A press release from the "World Chess Federation" informs us that Varuzhan Akobian will not compete in the announced World Chess Championship match in Las Vegas this December. However, now anyone can take part in or even stage the new World Championship cycle. Read on at your own risk.

Can computers be made to appreciate beauty?

9/2/2009 – Or at least to identify and retrieve positions that human beings consider beautiful? While computers may be able to play at top GM level, they are not able to tell a beautiful combination from a bland one. This has left a research gap which Dr Mohammed Azlan Mohamed Iqbal, working at Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia, has tried to close. Here's his delightfully interesting PhD thesis.

Grischuk wins Moscow Blitz Championship

9/2/2009 – The lineup of the traditional Moscow Blitz Championship was, as usual, extremely strong. The usual suspects Alexander Grischuk and Alexander Morozevich were joined by the newcoming Muscovite Sergey Karjakin. The sky-high rated Dmitry Jakovenko and always tough Vladimir Malakhov were dark horses of the event. Big pictorial report by Misha Savinov.