Mind Games Day 6: Basque System starts

12/17/2013 – This unique style of chess has begun in China! The players face each other twice simultaneously, once with black and once with white. In the men's Karjakin has again taken an early lead with a devastating 5.0/6. In the women's it is the Chinese that are dominating as they hold the top three spots at the moment, with Hou Yifan and Ju Wenjun at the very top. Analysis of the basque!

Indian National Premier starts today

12/17/2013 – It starts on Tuesday, with a one million Rupee prize fund (that US $16,000) and some of India's finest (e.g. Negi, Sasikiran, Adhiban). The event is being held in the Jain Hills resort of Jalgaon province, which is one of the hottest places in India in the summer, but wonderfully temperate in winter. It was not quite easy to reach but the venue itself makes up for that, as Saga Shah reports.

Pal Benko: Secrets of Study Composition (1)

12/17/2013 – There is more to chess than tournament games. The area of chess studies and problems is equally creative and breathtakingly imaginative. One of its greatest composers is grandmaster (and world championship candidate 1959 + 1962) Pal Benko. The 85-year-old author of some of the most famous studies of all time has sent us an essay on the remarkable process of chess composition.

Russian Cup takes off

12/17/2013 – The Russian Cup final is underway in Khanty-Mansiysk and is the culmination of the Russia Cup circuit of tournaments held throughout the year. Over a period of twelve months in different cities of Russia, stages of the Russian Cup are held for both men and women. The players that qualified from these tournaments are invited to the final. Beautiful pictorial impressions of the tournament.

Mind Games Day 5: Yifan, Karjakin gold

12/17/2013 – In two close blitz tournaments the final results came to the very last round. In the men's section Aronian and Karjakin tied at the top, but the Russian edged his opponent out on tiebreaks as he had bested the Armenian in the individual encounter. In the Women's section Gunina could have won if she defeated Hou Yifan in the last round, but she blundered and lost. Analysis of a blitz game!

2013 European Rapid and Blitz championships

12/16/2013 – It has been a massive amount of top-notch international rapid chess with the London Chess Classic, the Beijing Mind Games, and not to be outdone: the European Bitz and Rapid championships, held in Warsaw, Poland. What the European lacked in top-ten players, they made up for in sheer numbers with no fewer than 437 players in the blitz championship and 747 in the rapid. Even Santa played.

Nakamura wins London!

12/16/2013 – After a lucky escape in the semi-finals against Kramnik, Nakamura proceeded to play resourceful and precise chess against Gelfand in the finals to emerge victorious. Despite his dubious opening choices in both games, Nakamura was clearly the better rapid player this time around as Gelfand was unable to keep up with all the resources that the American kept finding. Analysis of the victory.

Mind Games Day 4: Yifan big winner

12/15/2013 – In the Men's section a very close situation has occurred. Mamedyarov's excellent day two catapulted him to first place with 14.0/20, but there are many players in hot pursuit. Le Quang Liem is only half a point behind, Aronian one point, Karjakin and Vachier a point and a half. In the Women's a fantastic 9.5/10 score for Yifan in day two puts her ahead with a two point lead. Pictorial report.

Looking back at Chennai: WCh solving contest

12/15/2013 – One of the daily attractions of the World Championship in Chennai last November was the problem and study contests that were held in the hotel lobby during every round. Scores of competent, enthusiastic and highly motivated solvers participated. The organiser of the solving contest, C.G.S. Narayanan, kindly sent us a set for our readers to solve. You have 90 minutes to do so.

London Super Sixteen: Semis ready!

12/15/2013 – The four players that will play the semi-finals have been defined. Kramnik crushed Anand with black in the second game to move on. Nakamura was a far superior player than Short and will face the Russian. Adams took advantage of Svidler being far from "his finest moment" and won the tiebreaks. Caruana blundered against Gelfand also in the tiebreaks. Take a look at the action packed games!

Mind Games Day 3: Gunina, Aronian lead blitz

12/14/2013 – Day one of the brutal blitz tournament has started. The event has a total of 30 rounds and today the first set of ten was played. In the Men's section Armenian Levon Aronian has destroyed the competition and emerged the strong leader with 8.5/10. In the Women's Gunina started with two losses, rebounded with an amazing eight wins and leads over Muzychuk and Yifan. Day 3 impressions.

Favorites qualify to quarters in London

12/14/2013 – Every first and second seed of the group stages was able to make it to the knock out system. Howell came close to giving a big surprise had he taken out Caruana, but a huge blunder left his chances in the dust. Kramnik got a little lucky that Sadler didn't capitalize against Svidler, which would have overtaken the World Cup winner. See the interesting quarterfinal pairings.

Alekhine-Euwe 1935: powerful images

12/13/2013 – In the last couple of years, several videos have surfaced concerning the famous 1935 World Championship match between Alexander Alekhine and Max Euwe. The footage stands out, as it shows scenes of the opening ceremony, not to mention the day the title was won, with a dazed and shocked Alekhine, still trying to grasp what had happened. Here are the dramatic images and videos.

Mind Games Day 2: Wang Yue, Gunina gold

12/13/2013 – A devastating loss in the last round cost Peter Leko the gold medal. He was leading by a full point but because of the tiebreak system (direct encounter) Wang Yue could overtake him with a victory against him, and that is precisely what happened. Gunina played solid, good chess and ended with a full point advantage in the end over Hou Yifan, who came in second. Rapid results, blitz tomorrow.

Joys of Chess – Castling

12/13/2013 – Did you know that until the 17th century castling in chess was two separate moves? Or that today there is a chess magazine devoted entirely to castling? Professor Christian Hesse has devoted a section of his book The Joys of Chess to spectacular instances of castling, including rare positions in which the castling move deserves two or even three exclamation marks.

London going as expected

12/13/2013 – The top seeds of their groups in the London Super Sixteen rapid tournament have taken a strong lead. In group A Adams and Anand seem untouchable while in Group B Svidler took out Kramnik and now shares the lead with him. Gelfand and Nakamura lead group C as do Caruana and Short in D, although Howell can still come back in that one. Will the leaders keep their positions?

Mind Games Day 1: Leko, Gunina lead

12/12/2013 – Leko leads the Men's section with an impressive 3.5/4 after he patiently ground down Karjakin in what should have been a drawn endgame. He is pursued by Karjakin and Wang Hao who have 3.0/4. In the Women's section Gunina has a spectacular 4.0/4 with dubious wins over Stefanova, Ju Wenjun, Paehtz and a gift from Kosteniuk. She plays Yifan tomorrow. Day one impressions and analysis.

Engines and endgame tablebases

12/12/2013 – Although chess endgame tablebases are nothing new, many users still do not use them, not because they are unaware of their benefits or existence, but because acquiring them and installing them became an unnecessarily complicated stumbling block. This guide hopes to clarify the various aspects of what they are, how to acquire them and, naturally, how to install them.
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World Mind Games begin today

12/12/2013 – The World Mind Games begins today in Beijing, China. Some of the best players of the world have been invited to play in an unique event that challenges them not only in rapid chess, but also in blitz and the new "Basque" system in which players play two rapid players against their opponent simultaneously: one with black and one with white! Opening Ceremony and preview of the event...

Ivanov in Navalmoral – the real deal

12/12/2013 – On Monday we published a report on the forfeit and disqualification of Borislav Ivanov at this year's Navalmoral de la Mata Open, after the Bulgarian FM had started with a 4.5/5, beating two GMs in the process. An examination was requested by his round six opponent, and a suspicious device was detected. But Ivanov refused to allow the search to proceed and left the event voluntarily.

London Super Sixteen Starts

12/12/2013 – The London Super Sixteen is the crown jewel of the London Chess Classic. This rapid tournament brings the top rapid players of the world and the best British players in an exciting event. The games were certainly not dissapointing as the fans saw many blunders, traps, crazy and wild games and very few solid draws. Group stages continue tomorrow and the day after while the knockout begins on Saturday. Round one and two reports.

You built what?! A giant robotic chess set!

12/11/2013 – When Lego robot designer Steve Hassenplug saw the magic chessboard in the Harry Potter film he had a new mission in life: to create a massive "Monsterchess" set, with pieces that move just like in the movie. It took over 100,000 Lego pieces and a year of work by a team of four. But the set is now working, as Popular Science reports. You have to see the images and videos.

The London Classic Pro-Celebrity Challenge

12/11/2013 – On Tuesday December 10, a special Pro-Celebrity Challenge was held at the Olympia Auditorium with stars of TV, music and sport teaming up with the grandmasters and facing off against another pro-celebrity team. These ten-minute games were broadcast live, with live commentary. Each winning team would receive £5000 for their favourite charity. Here is the pictorial with videos.

Mega 2014: the Rolls-Royce of databases

12/11/2013 – When describing Mega Database 2014, it is easy to get caught up in all the numbers, however impressive they may be, but this truly is the Rolls-Royce of chess databases. The reason is not in the numbers, but every aspect that make it such a wonderful tribute to chess, and indispensable tool. From pictures of Philidor, to commented games by Carlsen, it is all there. Here is a detailed review.