2/12/2010 – ... is a classical chess theme. In this Bundesliga top game the reigning U20 World Champion had sacrificed a pawn to open lines against the black monarch, which was countered with 16...f6. How would you assess this continuation?
A) a mistake, White can decisively penetrate the opponent's position;
B) good move, Black drives back the bishop and consolidates his plus pawn;
C) much ado about nothing, the position remains balanced.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

2/12/2010 – After three rounds of this massive tournament GM Le Quang Liem is the only player left with a clean score: three wins in three games. He is followed by another Vietnamese GM (and a Bulgarian and a Russian), with 31 players behind them – of whom two are female and one an IM. We bring you results and games, plus photo impressions by WGM Yana Melnikova.

2/11/2010 – David Robert Norwood, 41, is a grandmaster, writer and a successful businessman. These days he lives on an island, far away from the mainstream of chess, business, or in fact society in general. Where exactly is a secret, but you may draw your conclusions from a simultaneous exhibition David gave to support the Caribbean Chess Sub Zonal scheduled for June this year. Report by Kean Smith.

2/10/2010 – Many of America's best players have abandoned the game and gone into other fields – like GM James Tarjan who in 1984, while still in his early 30s, became a librarian. He was an exceptional player, and in this week's Playchess presentation by Dennis Monokroussos we get to see two games which will rivet your attention.

2/10/2010 – It is the essential electronic (and 52-page print) magazine for any serious chess player. Edition 134 contains extensive material – games, GM analysis, multimedia commentary – on the FIDE World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk, the London Chess Classic and the World Team Championship in Bursa, plus the latest openings surveys by leading experts. Don't miss it.

2/10/2010 – Although there are of course beautiful examples of zugzwang in the middlegame, it is much more a motif from endgames, many of which could not be won without zugzwang. Even when there is a clear superiority in material, as for example in the duel between a rook and a bishop, it is often only possible to make progress by employing zugzwang. Here is a typical example. After 68.Kb5 Black could, with the correct continuation, have retained his chances of a draw. What that was and the instructive winning method used by White after 68...Bc5? are things you can find out from Karsten Müller's analysis in  ChessBase Magazine Online.

2/9/2010 – Pocket Fritz 4 supports the file formats CBH (ChessBase game database), CBV (ChessBase zipped game database) and CTG (ChessBase opening book or tree), which are familiar to users of other ChessBase products. This is an important qualitative and quantitative step that gives you access to a wide range of chess data, with unquestionable advantages introduced in this article.

2/9/2010 – The 9th Aeroflot Open is taking place from Feb. 9–18, 2010, in the tourist complex Izmailovo Hotel Gamma-Delta. The prize sum is EUR 180,000. There are four open tournaments (A1, A2, B and C) which are made up according to the rating of the participants. The A1 tournament has players with a rating of 2550 or higher. Results and games of round one.

2/8/2010 – This event took place from Jan. 30 to Feb. 7, just before the 9th Aeroflot Open (Feb. 8–19) – which meant that many strong players were in the Russian capital to participate in both tournaments. Four players shared first in the Moscow Open, with 7.0/9 points. The winner was Konstantin Chernyshov on tie-break, with the decisive factor being that he had the most wins. Illustrated report.

2/7/2010 – In the first part Garry talked about his growing up years and his collaboration with Magnus Carlsen. In part 2 he touched on the preparations made for his very first match against Karpov and the recent K-K anniversary exhibition match. In this third part Kasparov answered questions about “making a comeback”, his family, politics and a new variant of Fischer Random chess. Interview.

2/6/2010 – A very original sequence happened in this Sicilian encounter from the recently finished festival in Wijk aan Zee. The black knight is attacked, but onto which square it should go now is only one question (A).
The other interesting issue is: what was actually White's last (and best!) move (B),
as a reaction in turn to which black move (C)?
What do you think, Watson?

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

2/5/2010 – Nine players were tied for first after ten rounds, and four went into the tiebreaks. British GM Michael Adams eliminated first Jan Gustafsson of Germany in an Armageddon game, and then Francisco Vallejo (who had knocked out Indian GM Sandipan Chanda) to take overall victory at the Gibtelecom Masters in Gibraltar. There was a prominent visitor during the second half of the event. Final results.