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.

Murtas Kazhgaleyev wins Ile-de-France Paris Championship

9/2/2009 – This International Open chess tournament is like no other – held not in a small, touristy town but in the heart of the "City of Light" and is billed as the Paris Championship. The venue is the sports gymnasium Coubertin, where this year 643 players, divided in three groups, were able to take part. The winner was a Kazakh grandmaster who is in love with the city. Report by Diana Mihajlova.

NH Amsterdam: 'Experience' GMs win by 27½-22½

9/1/2009 – The Rising Stars made one last attempt to catch the Experience team. But their 3-2 victory in the penultimate round was not enough. In the final round Experience struck back with a 3½-1½ win. Best player overall, with 6.5/10 and a 2752 performance: Peter Heine Nielsen. Jan Smeets of the Rising Stars won an invitation to next year's Amber tournament. Report with pictures by John Nunn.

September 2009 FIDE ratings

9/1/2009 – This is new: FIDE will now be publishing a rating list every two months, i.e. six times a year (instead of previously four, and before that twice). The two top GMs on the latest list, Topalov and Anand, have remained in place, neither having played any rated games since the previous list. Levon Aronian is now third, a point ahead of Carlsen and Kramnik. Top rankings and statistics.

Andrew Martin: The Scandinavian the easy way – 2nd edition

9/1/2009 – Playing flat out for the win against 1.e4 is never easy, but here's a variation where Black can do just that! IM Andrew Martin has produced a second DVD on the Scandinavian (or Center Counter) which will furnish good results in the shortest possible time. In four hours of video training he show you everything you need to know about this line. Order now or read this review with sampler.

Minimize your errors

8/31/2009 – Sometimes it is soothing to see even top players err in calculation. But that is cold comfort when you are faced with your own failures over the board. We mortals can only try to minimize them. Steve Goldberg from chesscafe.com has reviewed Danny King's new DVD "Calculation" and found it a very well suited tool for this purpose. Buy Powerplay 10 now or read more.

World Champion Viswanathan Anand in Botswana

8/31/2009 – Whenever Sheela Raja Ram looks out of her office window in Gaborone she sees students playing chess during class breaks. This made the Botswana managing director of the Indian technology company NIIT decide to bring over the their spokesperson on a goodwill tour. Vishy Anand received a warm welcome, especially since he is the first World Champion to visit the country.

NH: The Wrinklies bite back – Experience leads 22:18

8/30/2009 – It has been a good few weeks for the middle-aged. At the Staunton Memorial 44-year old Nigel Short top-scored, despite being the oldest player in the event. In Canada the oldest player, IM Jean Hebert, won the national championship – 31 years after winning it as the youngest. And in Amsterdam the experienced players continue to dominate. Report by Steve Giddins, pictures by John Nunn.

Karpov-Kasparov: Grudge Match in Valencia

8/30/2009 – They played each other in five big World Championship matches, most famously in 1984, when their first encounter was abandoned after 48 games without a final decision. Now to mark the 25th anniversary Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov will play a 12-game match – four rapid and eight blitz games – from 21 to 24 September, 2009, in Valencia, Spain. Details and statistics.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (26)

8/30/2009 – The Editor of Chess Notes reverts to the curious subject of missed mates, focusing on instances where chess authors have overlooked a mate in one move. There is, for example, the case of the hapless writer who blundered immediately after mentioning an identical oversight by someone else. And what about the suggestion that even Alekhine missed a mate in one?

Iranian GM smashes Guinness simultaneous chess world record

8/30/2009 – 29-year-old Iranian GM Morteza Mahjoob spent months preparing for the record attempt, which until then stood at 360 simultaneous games, set earlier this year by Bulgarian GM Kiril Georgiev. Mahjoob broke it by taking on 500 opponents and scoring 397 wins, 90 draws, 13 loses (= 88.4%). The effort lasted over 18 hours and was closely followed by the Iranian TV. Big illustrated report with videos.

The world's biggest chess game – possibly by far

8/29/2009 – The chess board is 1200 x 1200 feet in size, with squares measuring 150 feet and pieces 30 to 60 feet in size. The best place to view the action is from the Kyffhäuser Monument in Thuringia, Germany, from an elevation of 1500 feet. The opponents are IM Elisabeth Pähtz, Germany's top female player, and an Internet community that votes every morning at 10 a.m. on their move. You can join in.

18th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival

8/28/2009 – This event is not just about the hundred or so players who compete for the $30,000 prize money. It gives the participants an opportunity to get a feel for the Arabian culture, to meet the people and see their way of life. Fortunately we have a diligent reporter with a good camera and a great eye for visuals, who sent us this massive pictorial report. Impressions by Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh.

New – ChessBase Light 2009: know everything!

8/28/2009 – The recently improved "Reference" function of ChessBase Light 2009 is useful for more than just work on the opening. It is a powerful tool to use to prepare for a specific opponent. You can access and evaluate the relevant games quickly and simply, e.g. with a click of the mouse in the player index. This is vitally important for tournament and correspondence players. Take a look...

Arakhamia-Grant wins Baltic Queens

8/27/2009 – Originally from Georgia, GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant has lived in Scotland for the past thirteen years. The second seed took sole first place in the Baltic Queen Tournament in St. Petersburg, Russia, with 6.0/9 points and a 2558 performance. Second was another migrant player: IM Ekaterina Atalik, originally from Russia, now living in and playing for Turkey. Pictorial report with interview.

Breakthrough performance by Pocket Fritz 4 in Buenos Aires

8/27/2009 – The Mercosur Cup in Argentina is unusual since it is one of the few remaining chess tournaments where a computer is allowed to compete. Not a full quad or oct monster, but the handheld Pocket PC. Last year Pocket Fritz 3 won comfortably, and this year it was Pocket Fritz 4 based on the new Hiarcs 13.0 engine. You don't want to know what the program did in Buenos Aires. Or do you?

The 'Spy' in Fritz

8/27/2009 – Fritz 11's "Spy" function is sometimes misunderstood and often underutilized by amateur players for whom the feature is intended. Learn more about "Spy" – a sort of "mega Threat" function, which is always switched on, in the newest ChessBase Workshop.

FIDE Grand Prix 2008/2009 standings – Aronian wins

8/26/2009 – With one tournament still left Levon Aronian is already the winner of the 2008/2009 FIDE Grand Prix. The Armenian GM has collected a total of 500 points from two GP victories and his second place in Jermuk. Since nobody else can catch him – the best three of four tournaments are used – the final Grand Prix, still to be announced, will not change the status of the winner. Rules, points and tables.

Six million dollar World Chess Championship in Las Vegas?

8/25/2009 – Remember Ripley? A recent announcement tells us that there will be an official World Chess Championship match, starting on December 1st in Las Vegas. No, Anand is not part of it, nor is Topalov, Kamsky, Kasparov, Kramnik or any of the usual crowd. You are going to have to click through to our news page to find out who is playing who. We bring you the official press release.