XV Karpov-Poikovsky starts with firebrand lineup

5/13/2014 – Celebrating its 15th anniversary, the Karpov-Poikovsky tournament had never really begun as a series, but now it is one of the most powerful round-robin traditions in Russia, and brings together dynamic Russian players, with hard-hitting foreigners. This year the lineup includes Morozevich, Shirov, Bacrot, Eljanov, Motylev, and more, and in their games you will find no boring openings.

Sriram, Venkatesh win Indian Rapid and Blitz

5/12/2014 – Inspired by the decades of chess excellence by Anand, the noble game has all but exploded in India, and the number of masters, grandmasters, and prodigies, seems to grow almost daily. Held in the city of Ahmedabad, the Indian Rapid and Blitz championships were recently held, with exciting play and a large turnout. Here is an illustrated report with GM analysis by the players.

US Ch. Rd4: Lenderman wins again

5/12/2014 – 24-year-old GM Aleksander ("Alex") Lenderman has won his third game in this event, this time against rising star Ray Robson, who is just 19 but rated fifty points higher. Lenderman leads the field alone with 3.5/4, for which we calculate a rating performance of 2934. Second seed Timur Gareev follows half a point behind, Kamsky is third after his first win. Round four report.

Final Four Nations League Weekend

5/12/2014 – The 4NCL is a team tournament over three divisions. With over 850 players registered to take part and over £10,000 in cash prizes on offer it is the most prestigious team chess event held in the United Kingdom. It takes place over various weekends from October to May 2013/14, in several venues. The 2013/14 season ended last week. John Saunders reports – with annotated highlights.

2014 US Ch. Rd3: Lenderman takes lead in men's

5/11/2014 – It has been an unusual championship so far, with top seed Gata Kamsky unable to break free from his winless rut. Timur Gareev beat Naroditsky, but Lenderman was the star of the round as he beat Ramirez and is in the lead with 2.5/3. In the women's section, Krush drew, allowing her close rival Anna Zatonskih to level with her, but the eyes were once more on the youngest player.

Kasparov in Malaysia

5/11/2014 – He was mobbed, but in a good way: a large number of chess fans and autograph hunters sought close contact to the legendary World Champion, who officiated the opening of the PMB National Age Group Championship 2014, and took time to discuss a variety of topics with an expert on aesthetics-recognition technology in chess, our author Dr Azlan Iqbal – who sent us a big pictorial report.

Clash of Generations: Portisch-Rapport

5/10/2014 – The concept of a clash of generations is one that has gained traction all over the world. These matches are less about winning or losing than promoting talents on the rise and paying homage to a former great player who himself once defended the colors of his nation. Recently Hungary held such a match between young Rapport and veteran Portisch. Report by Diana Mihajlova with GM analysis.

US Ch R02: All games drawn

5/10/2014 – That is all games in the men's section – but most well-fought and interesting. In the women's championship it was the usual bloodbath, with three decisive games and two draws. Irina Krush defeated yesterday's hero Ashritha Eswaran and leads together with Sabina-Francesca Foisor at 2.0/2. We bring you games and results, and for the first time pictures from the event.

Quest for a first GM norm – part two

5/9/2014 – It was an Invitational in the hallowed halls of the Marshall Chess Club in New York, with four players vying for a GM norm. One of them succeeded: fourteen-year-old Akshat Chandra scored 6½ points to achieve his goal – for which he, like other youthful players before him, receives a special prize from ChessBase. In the second part of his report Akshat has annotated two interesting games.

Bilbao: bringing together the chess elite

5/9/2014 – An ambitious chess spectacle is planned for September in the Basque city of Bilbao: the European Chess Club Cup, with around 70 men’s and women’s teams, and the Grand Slam Masters Final, which will bring together the elite of world chess. Special promotional events are planned in Turkey and Norway, and Garry Kasparov has spoken about it in a video interview.

US Ch. Rd01: 13-year-old steals the thunder

5/9/2014 – The US Championship certainly had its share of fanfare preceding it: St. Louis was declared the US Chess Capital by a Senate resolution, days after a Congressional Chess Caucus had been formed to promote the educational benefits of chess. Despite all this, and world class players such as Kamsky and the US's first female to become a grandmaster, a teenager stole the show.

Magnus vs Norway – with a little help

5/9/2014 – On Thursday World Champion Magnus Carlsen played a very special game of chess. He took on the entire Norwegian nation, from a shopping center in Oslo via the Internet. Three experts (grandmaster) proposed moves, the nation voted on them. At three points the opponents were allowed to consult a computer. The game has been described and annotated in a video by Daniel King.

GMs Kamsky and Krush: please return your crowns!

5/8/2014 – The 2014 US Championship and the US Women's Championship begin today at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. At the opening ceremony the reigning champions Gata Kamsky and Irina Krush will try to regain their titles and a lion's share of the $172,000 prize fund. The competition is twelve male and ten female players. Watch it live with GM commentary.

Interview with Vladimir Kramnik

5/8/2014 – You can always count on him to be informative, open, candid, honest. The 38-year-old former World Champion, now a family father with two children, looks at art, beauty, life and chess in this 13-minutes interview, conducted by Brazilian video filmer Clara Cavour in Paris, just after Vladimir Kramnik's return to his family after a month of tournaments. We have a full transcription.

Quest for a first GM norm – part one

5/7/2014 – He discovered chess at the relatively late age of ten, and was immediately fascinated by its intricacies and subtleties. Akshat Chandra soon became a regular on the US chess circuit, gained an IM title and is now on a quest to make full GM. The first norm came at an Invitational in New York, which he has described in a wonderfully insightful article. Akshat is all of fourteen years old.

Globetrotting in Barbados

5/7/2014 – After two intense weeks working in the press room of the Women Grand Prix in Khanty-Mansiysk, our favorite globetrotter IM Alina L'Ami took off to Barbados but this time to play in a round-robin. With little rest and no preparation, was this a mistake? Her colossal 9.5/10 victory says not, and she still managed to get up during the games to take pictures for this gorgeous pictorial.

No bids for World Championship 2014

5/6/2014 – It is quite amazing: World Champion Magnus Carlsen, a real sports superstar, is to be challenged in a title match by former World Champion Viswanathan Anand, an Indian with 1.3 billion fans, in November this year. But the deadline for the bidding process to stage this match ran out on April 30, at 13:00h, without a single bid being received by FIDE. What are the reasons?

Checkmating Alzheimer’s with mind sports

5/5/2014 – Every year 17.5 billion hours of unpaid care are provided to people suffering from Alzheimer's. The total cost is currently $200 billion per year, and could rise to $1.2 trillion by 2050. Medical science is still wrestling with cause and cure, but, as Michael Ciamarra explains, one treatment seems to work: chess. He gives us thoughtful instructions on how to administer this therapy.

Chess Cash Kings 2013 – guess who leads

5/5/2014 – The idea of creating a live rating list of the prize money winnings of top GMs was suggested some years ago by Peter Zhdanov, a student of math and sociology. Making these financial details publicly available, he suggested, was a crucial step towards transforming chess into a mainstream sport and making it more popular. The first list was published in 2012, the second has just been compiled.

1233 players at French Youth Championships

5/4/2014 – It has to be seen to be believed: well over a thousand players, divided into 14 groups, 4000 in total with parents, friends and trainers – this is competition for chess Olympiads! The Youth Championships of France took place in Montbéliard, the eastern part of France, in a giant sport and concert stadium. It was dedicated to the late and great organiser Jean-Paul Touzé. Giant pictorial.

"Battle for Migingo" Part Three

5/3/2014 – Migingo is one of the smallest, most densely populated pieces of real estate in the world. This small island has been a source of sabre rattling by both Kenya and Uganda, and the Nairobi Chess Club has chosen to name its matches against Uganda after this volatile battleground. The third edition was once again won by Uganda. Pictorial report by Kim Bhari.

Ambassador Melanie visits Tromsø

5/2/2014 – Melanie Ohme, 24, is a German WGM and member of the national Olympic team. She is also an activist against racism and as such was invited to Tromsø, Norway, where the 41st Chess Olympiad begins in three months. Melaine participated in two days of filming and visited a special school where chess is being used to integrate children from 22 different nations. Inspiring photo report.

Handicraft: Piece by Peace Chess

5/2/2014 – It's a two-man company: master artisan Mary Sutphen sculpts chess pieces in wax, her son Robert uses rubber molds to cast them in different materials. In addition Rob hand carves chess sets from alabaster and soapstone. Each piece is the result of many hours of work, and full sets may take months to complete. Still the prices are extremly reasonable. Take a look.

May 2014 ratings – Grischuk in third place

5/2/2014 – Alexander Grischuk gained 15 points in the past month and is now ranked number three in the world, behind Carlsen and Aronian, and ahead of Anand, Caruana, Kramnik and Nakamura. Interesting that Cuban GM Leinier Dominguez Perez has climbed into the top ten. French GM Romain Edouard 22 points, while Dutch GM Loek van Wely somehow managed to lose 29 points in a single month.