Ivanchuk leads Capa Memorial with MMDCCCLXXXI performance

6/17/2010 – The XLV edition of the annual tournament dedicated to the greatest Cuban chess player ever, José Raúl Capablanca, is VI rounds deep. Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk is in top form and has scored IV plus half a point in VI games, followed by Nigel Short with III plus one half and a MMDCCLXVIII performance. What is wrong with us, you ask? As usual we have caught the Roman numeral fever.

11th ASEAN + Age Group Chess Championships

6/17/2010 – Following the string of successful events, the ASEAN Championships were held in Subic Freeport, Olongapo City, Philippines from 4th to 13th June 2010. Participants competed in the U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U20 age groups for girls and in the open section. At the ASEAN Conference Norway presented its bid for the 2014 Olympiad. Pictures and videos by Europe Echecs.

One for Black, one for White

6/17/2010 – Last weekend Viktor Bologan became co-winner in the top-class Poikovsky tournament. The Moldavian GM is also a great chess trainer and has recorded two Fritztrainer DVDs, one on the Philidor Defence (for Black) and one on the Sicilian Rossolimo (for White). Sean Marsh reviewed both and recommends them especially to advanced players. Place your order now or read this review.

Karpov releases platform, ticket to be announced

6/16/2010 – It's been a few days since we looked in at the race for the FIDE presidency. Ilyumzhinov already announced his ticket and platform, now it's Anatoly Karpov's turn. Eight pages of policy includes finances, federalism, and, of course, the World Championship. He's also made known almost all of his ticket and we're sure you'll recognize the latest addition.

Medias R2: All games drawn, Gelfand, Nisipeanu lead

6/16/2010 – In the second round of the Turneul Regilor in Romania all three games ended in a draw. Wang Yue tried to outplay Ponomariov in a quiet Catalan endgame; Gelfand-Nisipeanu was balanced and resulted in a safe endgame with knights versus bishops; Radjabov-Carlsen, the longest game of the round, saw the Norwegian equalise and vainly press for a win. Commentary by GM Dorian Rogozenco.

Dutch Championships: Giri, Smeets lead, Peng with 6.0/6

6/16/2010 – The 2008 and 2009 Dutch Champions, Jan Smeets and Anish Giri, are duly in front after five rounds, in the women's section Peng Zhaoqin's has scored a phenomenal 6.0/6. Meanwhile Loek van Wely participated in a medical experiment to record emotional reactions during the game. His opponent tested them sorely with a 13-fold repetition. With beautiful pictures by Frans Peeters.

Medias R3: Radjabov beats Ponomariov

6/16/2010 – After errors by Ruslan Ponomariov in a King’s Indian Teimour Radjabov built up pressure and won rather easily in 48 moves. Nisipeanu-Wang Yue was a quiet draw in the Petrov’s Defence. Carlsen-Gelfand saw the Moscow Variation of the Semi-Slav. Gelfand neutralized White’s attacking intentions and in fact got a slightly better endgame, which was a draw. GM commentary by Dorian Rogozenco.

Medias: Round one commentary

6/15/2010 – Round one of the category 20 event in Romania saw two wins and a draw. Nisipeanu and Gelfand won brilliant games, although they differed a lot. The Romanian grandmaster capitalised on the strategic inaccuracies of his opponent, Teimour Radjabov, while Boris Gelfand slowly but firmly destroyed Wang Yue's defensive bastions to take the full point. Commentary by GM Dorian Rogozenco.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (41)

6/14/2010 – In reply to a reader in Switzerland who asks about recordings of chess masters’ voices from the pre-Botvinnik era, the Editor of Chess Notes explores the subject, quoting a number of reports about, among others, the world champions Alekhine, Capablanca, Euwe and Lasker. And when did the first radio broadcast about chess take place? Any advance on 1923?

Dutch Championship 2010 – after round three

6/14/2010 – The 2010 Dutch championship is under way, with three clear aspirants to the throne, but only room for one crown-holder. Jan Smeets is the top gun at 2659, with six-time champion Loek Van Wely on his heels, fresh from a win at the strong Chicago Open, and last but not least is the 15-year-old Anish Giri, the reigning Dutch champion. After three rounds, Smeets and Nijboer lead.

Kavalek in HuffPo: Chess King's Mad Scramble

6/14/2010 – In this week's Huffington Post column GM Lubomir Kavalek discusses – in great depth – a spectacular game played between Alexander Riazantsev and Sergey Karjakin at the recent Poikovsky tournament. It was so complicated even the chess computers sometimes hesitated to suggest the best way. But the humans navigated their way through the mess brilliantly and with vigor.

Medias R01: Gelfand and Nisipeanu win

6/14/2010 – This year's Kings Tournament is being held in Medias, Romania (the previous editions were in the nearby Bazna). The event is a category 20 double round robin with six players, all but one over 2700. In round one Gelfand and Nisipeanu beat Wang Yue and Radjabov, while top seed Magnus Carlsen drew against Ruslan Ponomariov. Commentary to follow, for now here's our express report.

Chess and Astronomy – Global Rent-a-Scope

6/14/2010 – Regular readers of the ChessBase news page know that since his retirement from over-the-board chess John Nunn has developed an increasing interest in astronomy. Other players like Viswanathan Anand have also taken it up as a serious hobby. During the World Championship in Sofia Christian Sasse gave both John and Vishy time on his remote telescopes. John Nunn reports.

Karjakin, Bologan win Karpov Poikovsky tournament

6/13/2010 – 20-year-old Sergey Karjakin came straight from a victory in the World Rapid Cup in Odessa; Moldavian GM Viktor Bologan had won his ninth and tenth round games. Both scored full points, against Sutovsky and Motylev respectively, in the final round to finish at 7.0/11. Karjakin took the final victory on tiebreak points. Final report.

The Delhi Interview with Viswanathan Anand – Part three

6/13/2010 – In the first part Vishy Anand spoke about his expectations for the World Championship match in Sofia (the interview was conducted in December 2009). In part two he talked about match preparation, psychological tricks and the ominous "killer instinct". In the concluding section Anand discusses movies, "preparation music"and whether he still reads opening books. Part three.

Name your Hero: Garry Kasparov in Tel Aviv

6/13/2010 – He is not so jaded as some may think. Garry Kasparov was recently in Tel Aviv, Israel, as the winner of the "Name your Hero" competition, and did his 30-game simul thing, winning every game as usual. But he was most excited about meeting the famous scientists who had won the Dan David prizes. Like Leonard Kleinrock, who had failed to transmit the word L-O-G-I-N. Big illustrated report.

Various intermediate moves...

6/13/2010 – ... White had to consider when in this position he went for 21.Bxa6 with the threat 22.Rd6. How would you assess the situation after this?

A) White simply wins a piece;
B) the ultimate consequence is an endgame with white material advantage;
C) everything vanishes into thin air.

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

London Chess Classic 2010 with Anand and Carlsen

6/12/2010 – The 2009 tournament was a highlight of the chess year – and returned London to its former status as a great world centre of chess. The sponsors vowed to continue with the Chess Classic, and for this year's edition – from December 8 to 15 – they have secured the participation of the World Champion Vishy Anand plus the world number one Magnus Carlsen. This is an event you should not miss.

Robert von Weizsaecker's Team for ECU Leadership

6/12/2010 – "For a Brighter Future" is the campaign slogan, the mission statement includes the fair allocation of tournaments, transparency, sustainable sponsorship, chess in schools and on the Internet. The German Chess Federation President, Prof. Robert von Weizsäcker (pronounced "fon why-tsecker"), is running for the European Union presidency, with a team of four grandmasters. Details.

Four players lead before the final round in Poikovsky

6/12/2010 – After nine rounds Dimtry Jakovenko was leading by half a point, ahead of Sergey Karjakin, with four players half a point behind the latter. In round ten Jakovenko lost to Alexander Onischuk, while Karjakin drew. The other results left four players in the lead before the final round. We bring you a pictorial report by our colleagues from ChessPro on caged animals and suckling pigs.

The Delhi Interview with Viswanathan Anand – Part two

6/11/2010 – In December 2009 Jaideep Unudurti conducted an indepth interview with Viswanathan Anand. Some of it was published in Mint – a collaboration between the Hindustan Times and the Wall Street Journal – but a lot fell on the cutting room floor. Thankfully Jaideep saved the entire interview, which provides deep insights into the personality of the current World Champion. Here's part two.

Asian Senior and Amateur Championships in Beirut

6/11/2010 – The event is taking place on June 4-14 2010. It was opened with pageantry and politics, with a spectacular Arabic dance number and with Morten Sand campaigning for the Norwegian city of Tromsø to stage the 2014 Chess Olympiad. International dignitaries, including FIDE Presidential candidate Anatoly Karpov, were informed. Pictures and videos by our colleagues at Europe Echecs.

Play it like Bobby

6/11/2010 – A remarkably simple concept underlies the Spanish Exchange Variation: White swaps off all the pieces and wins the pawn ending. On his new Fritz Trainer DVD Andrew Martin explains you this concept, that was once brought to perfection by Bobby Fischer. "An excellent DVD", says Lance Martin at chesscafe.com.Buy it now or read more.

The breakthrough

6/11/2010 – The following instructive bishop versus knight endgame arose in the encounter Lu Shanglei - Ji Dan, played during the Chinese Championships 2010 in Xinghua. With his strong central knight, White is dominating the bishop, which is tied to the defence of the pawns on c6 and g6. White also has a 3:2-pawn majority on the kingside, which is just waiting to be set in motion. But, despite these weighty positional advantages it is not a simple matter to crack open the black position. What do you think? Which continuation did Lu Shanglei choose in order to make progress? GM Karsten Müller for ChessBase Magazine Online.