Ratings Summit in Athens

6/22/2009 – On June 11-12, FIDE held a special meeting in Athens, Greece to discuss the implications of changes to the FIDE rating system, especially the increase of the K-factor. Ratings experts from around the world (including John Nunn and GM Bartlomiej Macieja) were brought together to recommend a course of action to the Presidential Board.  Jeff Sonas reports on the meeting.

Your judgement, please

6/22/2009 – Playing a quiet move with the enemy king being completely exposed can be very difficult, and even an absolute attacking artist like World Champion Mikhail Tal often could not resist the temptation of giving check. In this position White had just gone for 34.Rf1-f2. How would you assess this move? A) Just the right thing to do, White is not in a hurry and will safely rake in the full point after this. B) A mistake allowing the opponent a spectacular draw. C) This blunders the game - now a double attack decides for Black. The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.larger version of the diagram.

Bazna R6: Ivanchuk, Shirov win, Ivanchuk leads

6/21/2009 – Vassily Ivanchuk chalked up a second win in this event when his opponent Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu once again fell victim to over-creativity. Alexei Shirov tricked his opponent with a nice bishop manoeuvre on moves 9 and 10. Boris Gelfand and Teimour Radjabov drew in a complicated strategical battle. Ivanchuk leads with 4.5/6. GM commentary by Dorian Rogozenco.

Women and men in chess – smashing the stereotypes

6/20/2009 – On June 5, 2009 WGM Natalia Pogonina and Peter Zhdanov got married – she a Women's Grandmaster, he a successful IT-specialist and debate expert. Peter is also Natalia’s manager, together they are writing a book called "Chess Kamasutra". Today they share with us their views on the perennial topic why women are worse at chess than men, and take a look at the future of women’s chess.

116th Scottish Chess Championships (International Open)

6/19/2009 – When you think of international chess it is unlikely that Scotland springs to mind. Steinitz, the future first World Champion, participated in an international tournament in Dundee 1867. After this promising start Scotland has rarely featured on the map for strong players. However this year’s Scottish Championship is a step in the right direction. Jonathan Grant, Director of Chess Scotland, explains how.

Bazna R5: Gelfand and Ivanchuk win, lead the event

6/19/2009 – At half-time in this double round robin the two oldest players are leading: Boris Gelfand, who defeated Alexei Shirov, when the latter blundered a pawn; and Vassily Ivanchuk, who profited from an error by his opponent Gata Kamsky. Ivanchuk and Shirov are leading at half-way time and have 3.5/5 points. Friday is a free day. GM commentary by Dorian Rogozenco.

Drozdovskij, wins Bhubaneswar Open

6/18/2009 – The First SCS International Open GM tournamnent hosted more than 80 title holders, was held in the state of Orissa, India. Five players tied for first, with Ukrainian GM Yuri Drozdovskij taking first on tiebreak points. We bring you games and results, plus a spectacular travelogue on this very popular tourist spots in India by GM Sergey Tiviakov. Enjoy the temples and animals.

Bazna R4: All games drawn, but interesting battles

6/18/2009 – Nisipeanu produced a move nine novelty in the Ruy Lopez, gained the initiative but saw it neutralised by his opponent Shirov. Ivanchuk played a strong novelty against Radjabov and got a very promising endgame, which in the end he was unable to turn into a full point. Gelfand-Kamsky was an important theoretical game, which was drawn in 37 moves. GM commentary by Dorian Rogozenco.

Boa constrictor Petrosian – instructive and humorous

6/17/2009 – Were he still alive, Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian, the tenth World Chess Champion, would be 80 years old today. He was nicknamed "the boa constrictor" for the remarkable way in which he could suffocate even the greatest opponents over the chessboard. In this week's Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos uses a game against Botvinnik to illustrate Petrosian's technique. Be there at 9 p.m. ET.

Lokomotiv Sofia wins open and women's team championships

6/17/2009 – Even without Topalov and Cheparinov it was the strongest team competition ever in Bulgaria. The team of Lokomotiv Sofia scored a double victory, winning in both groups. The Team Championships for men and women was held from 8-14 June 2009 at Sunny Beach, a resort with a remarkable mixture of styles. GM Dejan Bojkov, who played in the event, has sent us a report and pictures.

Bazna R3: All games drawn, three players lead

6/17/2009 – At last a quick draw: against Gata Kamsky Romanian GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, who had lost his first two games, went for a well-known 16-move draw. Ivanchuk tried to improve in Gelfand's Petroff, but settled for a draw after 37 moves. The most exciting encounter was the Gruenfeld between Radjabov and Shirov, in which Black walked along the brink. GM commentary by GM Dorian Rogozenco.

Bazna R2: Gelfand beats Nisipeanu

6/16/2009 – Exciting games: Alexei Shirov played the Rossolimo and sacrificed a knight against Vassily Ivanchuk, but the latter sacrificed back and the action-packed game was drawn. Even more stunning was Boris Gelfand vs Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, in which the Romanian GM also produced a surprising knight sacrifice but went wrong in time trouble to suffer a second defeat. GM Dorian Rogozenco annotates.

Database integrity checks

6/16/2009 – Sometimes bad things happen and your chess data gets corrupted. In the last ChessBase Workshop we looked at ways to back up a database. This time we show you how to use a ChessBase 10 tool which can help you retrieve data you might have thought was lost; it's all described in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

Bazna R01: Shirov and Ivanchuk start with black wins

6/15/2009 – Romgaz and the Chess Club Society "Elisabeta Polihroniade” are staging a double round robin tournament with six top GMs in Bazna, Romania. In the first round Alexei Shirov defeated Gata Kamsky and Vassily Ivanchuk beat the country's top GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, both with the black pieces. Live coverage on the official site and Playchess.com. We bring you a first introductory report.

Bazna R1 commentary by GM Dorian Rogozenco

6/15/2009 – The category 20 tournament – average rating 2729 – that is being staged in Romania started on Sunday with a dramatic round, which saw two black wins, by Ivanchuk and Shirov. We brought you the games in the our first report. Thankfully GM Dorian Rogozenco, who is working in the press room of the tournament, will be sending us annotated game. Here is the first installment from round one.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (22)

6/14/2009 – The entire subject of prodigies in chess is fascinating from many standpoints, but, as the Editor of Chess Notes observes, no book has yet given it in-depth treatment. While marvelling at the exploits of such Wunderkinder as Capablanca and Reshevsky we should spare a thought for some truly obscure youngsters also praised by journalists for their exploits, whether real or dubious.

Chinese Championship – a pictorial review

6/14/2009 – China is an emerging super-power – in chess. The 2009 Championship brought forth a sixteen-year-old winner, one of the strongest female players in the world is a fifteen-year-old grandmaster. The championship was overshadowed by event deciding game defaults, but sweetened by some great photography and beautiful portrait impressions by GM Ye Rongguang.

Testing chess players – for what?

6/13/2009 – Chess players have outstanding abilities in things like... well, playing chess. And anything else? Economists at the University of Kassel (Germany) want to find out and invite you to join a simple online experiment. All you have to do is choose a number between 0 and 100, as explained in the test. You can win ChessBase vouchers worth €350. Deadline: June 28th 2009.

Grasping the Scheveningen Sicilian

6/12/2009 – The Scheveningen Sicilian is the most polular response to 1.e4. There are many thousands of games, and it is very hard for club players to grasp the really important ideas. On his new DVD GM Lubomir Ftacnik explains key games and provides you with an understanding that is soundly founded on the development of each line. Buy his DVD now or read this review with a nine minutes sampler.

Motylev wins 10th Karpov Poikovsky

6/12/2009 – This tournament, named after the 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov, took place from June 3rd to 12th in the West Siberian town, with a population of 20,000. It was category 18 with an average rating of 2694, and convincingly won by Russian GM Alexander Motylev, who finished a full point ahead of the field. At the bottom of the table was shockingly Alexei Shirov. Report.

Sinequefields Purchase Bobby Fischer's Chess Collection

6/12/2009 – About 320 volumes on chess, 400 periodicals, nine unexamined personal floppy disks, proofs for My 60 Memorable Games, preparation notes for Taimanov, Petrossian and Spassky – all of this was up for sale at Bonhams and Butterfield on Madison Avenue. It was snapped up for US $61,000 by Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield, sponsors of the 2009 US Championship. Press release and details.

Your judgement, please

6/11/2009 – The ChessBase CD "The greatest tournaments in the history of chess" has a remarkably detailed review of the most beautiful game in the 1883 London tournament. In the diagram position the d5-square has been cleared; but White now has to deal with threats on the c-file. Which evaluations is correct: A) Black has the initiative firmly in his hands since he is threatening ...Rc2; B) It's obvious how White can get the advantage – what are long diagonals for? C) The bishop on b2 will play a decisive part in the attack – but first White needs some more open lines. The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram

Feedback and facts on FIDE's 'zero tolerance' rule

6/11/2009 – Last week the Chinese Championship was decided, amongst other things, by a winner getting a full point when his last-round opponent did not appear at his board in time for the start. A lot of readers have commented, some eloquently, some stridently, some tongue-in-cheek, on FIDE's "zero tolerance" rule. We, on the other hand, were hard put to find the exact wording. Who can help clear this up?

Congratulations to Natalia and Peter, the new chess couple

6/10/2009 – He had read about her in chess magazines and websites. In August 2008 they met at the Tal Memorial. Peter Zhdanov and Natalia Pogonina played some blitz, and a new friendship was born, which eventually blossomed into love and led to a marriage between the two young Russian chess players. They are currently working on an extraordinary book, one you are not going to want to miss.