Rybka 4 is here – and stronger than ever

5/31/2010 – The chess engine Rybka has become the touchstone in computer chess. It has won three world championships, and just this weekend came first in the super-strong ICT10 computer tournament in Holland. Rybka 4 is now available and can be directly ordered from ChessBase. But before you go clicking away in our shop you may want to read this interview with author Vasik Rajlich.

Sigeman: Giri wins with 4.5/5 and a 2936 performance

5/31/2010 – He was the highest rated and at the same time youngest player in the event: 15-year-old Anish Giri conceded just a single draw to win the 18th annual Sigeman & Co Tournament with a sterling performance. In the final round he defeated his only rival, 19-year-old Norwegian GM Jon Ludvig Hammer. After the game Anish gave us his impressions on the phone. Final report.

Karjakin wins ACP World Rapid Cup

5/30/2010 – Odessa, this weekend: Mikhail Guruvich shut out Vugar Gashimov, his second Super-GM in succession. But Gurevich was stopped in the semis by Dmitry Jakovenko. He was joined in the finals by Sergey Karjakin, who had eliminated Alexander Grischuk. All four final games and the two blitz games were drawn. Sergey won the Armageddon. Final report.

Sigeman: The 'Giriminator' leads with 3.0/3

5/29/2010 – The youngest player in the tournament – and currently the youngest grandmaster in the world – is on a rampage. Anish Giri has won his third game in a row and is the only player in the event with a perfect score. Today he beat Swedish GM Tiger Hillarp Persson, while GM Pia Cramling lost unnecessarily to Jonny Hector – Pia's third loss in succession. Round three report.

FIDE Elections: Campaign sites and international news

5/29/2010 – It's been many days since we last touched on the subject – the upcoming election to FIDE President, which pits the incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov against challenger Anatoly Karpov. The latter has had a campaign site in operation for a while now, Ilyumzhinov has launched his own under the name One FIDE. Meanwhile international press organs are having a field day. Links and excerpts.

Sigeman: Giri and Hammer score – again

5/28/2010 – And Jonny Hector of Sweden did so too, against compatriot Tiger Hillarp Persson. Hector is the local player and making his fourteenth start in this event. The two young stars Anish Giri and Jon Ludvig Hammer dispatched Nils Grandelius (16) and Pia Cramling respectively. All three games were won with the white pieces. Round two report.

Nunn’s Chess Endings Volume One

5/28/2010 – Last year we reviewed John Nunn’s new endgame book Understanding Chess Endgames. At the time the author had abandoned his plan to write a detailed endgame book and instead turned the original introductory chapter into an endgame primer. Now, eight months later, the first advanced book on the endgame has appeared (with volume two to follow in the autumn). Review with sampler.

Fire at will...

5/28/2010 – ... the first player thought in this position when he went for the kill in the g-file with 40.Nxe7+ Bxe7 41.Rxg7+. In your opinion this continuation leads to what?
A) forced mate;
B) perpetual check;
C) a big disappointment for White.

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

The Fourth ACP World Rapid Cup in Odessa

5/28/2010 – This event is taking place from May 27th-29th, 2010 in Ukraine. The matches are two rapid games, followed by blitz tiebreak games if required, and then the dreaded Armageddon blitz to decided the winner. Shocker in round one: veteran Mikhail Gurevich knocked out Vassily Ivanchuk, who played down to a bare knight in the second game. Day one report.

Bill Hook (1925–2010)

5/27/2010 – He was a wonderful artist and the kindest of men. Bill Hook played the top board for the British Virgin Islands team at 17 Chess Olympiads. In 1970 in Siegen, Germany, he used his beloved queen maneuver against Bobby Fischer and easily equalized the game. Bill Hook died on May 10, in his home in Silver Spring, Maryland. He would have turned 85 tomorrow. Eulogy by GM Lubomir Kavalek.

Sigeman & Co: Giri and Hammer score

5/27/2010 – The 18th annual Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament, organised by the Limhamn Chess Club, is taking place in the classical Hipp Theater in central Malmo. As in the previous year, six players face each other in a round-robin tournament. Two of the youngest players, top seeds Anish Giri (15, 2642) and Jon Ludvig Hammer (19, 2610) were the first to draw blood. Round one report.

Topalov vs Anand in the Indian press

5/27/2010 – "Anand shouldn't be proud of his K links", said Topalov in the Times of India, "I would never accept help from people who humiliated me. But it seems Anand is different." To which Anand has replied in the Indian press: "'Topolov's allegations are baseless. It is a lame excuse, I took more of an emotional support from them." Statements, replies and some interesting video reports.

Attack with the Two Knights Defence

5/27/2010 – Watch out 1.e4 players! How do you continue after 1...e5? IM Lawrence Trent suggests the rediscovered Two Knights Defence with 4.Ng5 instead of the often dull lines of the Ruy Lopez. In nearly five hours he shows you both the general ideas and the latest trends. Lance Martin from chesscafe.com checked his recommendations and regards it a "sure-fire alternative". Buy his DVD now or read this review with sampler.

US Championship – Kamsky wins the title in tiebreak

5/26/2010 – It is an unusual system: the two players tied for first each secretly bid for the amount of time they would be willing to accept. The player with the lower bid gets that, the choice of colour and draw odds, the opponent has 60 minutes. Gata Kamsky bid 25 minutes and took black. He held Yury Shulman to a draw and with that took the title of US Champion. Final report.

Twenty-five years of CHESS (the musical)

5/26/2010 – A quarter of a century ago, plus or minus a year (the LP was released in 1984, the music videos in 1985 and the London stage première took place in 1986), a brilliant musical came into being, authored by Tim Rice with music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, formerly of ABBA. It proved a world-wide success and was greatly loved by chess fans. Looking back...

'FIDE – An Inglorious Inventory'

5/26/2010 – Any idea which are the most active chess playing countries in the world? Did you know that 43,000 people in the world have a 2000+ rating, while around the same number are rated below that mark? The top seven countries have the same number of players as the remaining 136 members of FIDE? The French Chess Federation's Léo Battesti presents us with some eye-opening statistics.

Great Short stories

5/26/2010 – Nigel Short is an artist of more than one talent. His greatest of course is chess. On his first "Greatest Hits" DVD he shows you his wins e.g. against Karpov, Kasparov, Anand, and also the immortal king march against Timman. GM Hedinn Steingrimsson spent four joyful hours with the DVD and recommends it to "all who want to witness how lively and imaginative chess can be". Buy now or read more.

GP in Astrakhan: Eljanov wins by a full point

5/25/2010 – Ukrainian GM Pavel Eljanov sealed things up with a 15-move draw in the twelfth against Jakovenko and then a tough battle in the final round against Gelfand. He wins the Sixth FIDE Grand Prix with a 2809 performance. Teimour Radjabov, however, who was amongst the five runners-up, took the big prize: a place in the World Championship Candidates. Final report.

Sofia in the news – reports and interviews

5/25/2010 – The World Championship in Sofia is still churning out reports in the international press. But for obvious reasons the winner, who hails from a country with over a billion inhabitants, is getting the lion's share of the attention. "I would like to see the same coverage for Topalov as you have had with Anand," requests one reader. We have scanned the press and bring you links and excerpts.

US Championship – Shulman and Kamsky to play for title in rapid tiebreak

5/24/2010 – A shock defeat on the second day of the Quad final – four top players battling it out in a round robin – virtually extinguished the chances of last year's champion Hikaru Nakamura from taking the title for a second time in succession. In the open event IM Irina Krush narrowly missed scoring her second GM norm. The final round and decision are on Sunday. Illustrated report.

GP in Astrakhan: Eljanov leads, two rounds to go

5/23/2010 – After eleven of the thirteen rounds in the FIDE Grand Prix the Ukrainian GM Pavel Iljanov has a full point lead over his nearest rivals. It is, however, Teimour Radjabov, in equal second position, who has the best chances of qualifying for a place in the World Championship cycle. Tension is high, as is the "chicken factor" (68% draws). Big illustrated report.

Election news: Yazici on the attack

5/22/2010 – The battle for FIDE presidency is getting more vicious. Leading the battle on the side of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is the President of the Turkish Chess Federation, Ali Nihat Yazici, who has published a number of pieces on the TCF web site against challenger Anatoly Karpov. In his latest piece Yazici states his reasons for switching from opponent to friend and ally of the incumbent President. Excerpts and links.

US Championship – cream of the crop for quad final

5/22/2010 – Four players have advanced to the quad finals of the 2010 U.S. Championship, but the results of round seven do not tell the full story. Though a casual glance will show that the top three boards ended in draws, uncompromising play brought the tournament to within a whisker of a large tiebreaker for the four-player round robin. Round seven report.

Breaking news: Men in black seize Russian Chess Federation

5/21/2010 – Last week the RCF nominated Anatoly Karpov as their candidate for the Presidency of FIDE. This was verbally contested by the supporters of incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Today black suited men from the private security firm “Peper” arrived at the Federation’s offices, kicked out the regular security guards and sealed off some rooms in the building. Report in True/Slant + Karpov's reaction.