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.
More...
 4

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.

Snowdrops defeat Old Hands by 17.5:14.5

12/10/2013 – Round six of this battle in the Czech city of Podebrady brought the first win of a veteran GM against a young female talent. But the fight back came too late: in the end the Snowdrops – average age 22 – clinched the team match by three points. WGM Alina Kashlinskaya, 20, scored five points in eight games, with a performance of 2561. Final illustrated report. Final illustrated report.

Battle of Generations: Shirov wins 5-1

12/10/2013 – Though the result of the match was no longer in doubt, one might have wondered whether Daniil Dubov and Alexei Shirov would play out their last game. To the delight of those watching it was a fascinating Meran, which saw Shirov sacrifice the exchange for a powerhouse pawn on b2. In the end, they drew and went on to the blitz games where Dubov had the edge. A fitting end to a great match.

2013 Ugra Governor's Cup

12/9/2013 – The city of Khanty Mansiysk recently held the IX Ugra Governor's Cup, a strong swiss that is a part of the Russia Cup circuit from November 27-December 6, 2013. The tournament brought in dozens of grandmasters, as well as players of all ages and gender. The "A" tournament, open to all players rated 2350 and above, included dozens of grandmasters and was won by Denis Khismatullin. Report, pictures and games.

Ivanov restarts his chess career

12/9/2013 – In early October we reported that Borislav Ivanov had announced that he will retire from chess, after the Bulgarian FM had forfeited a game in the Blagoevgrad Open for refusing to allow the arbiter to check his shoes for hidden devices. Now Ivanov is back at it again: he started the Navalmoral de la Mata Open in Spain with 4.5/5 points, beating two GMs and drawing a third. But then there was, once again, a problem with his shoes.

Amazing functionality and value

12/9/2013 – The whole history of chess in an app: five million chess games, updated once a week with new games from world class tournaments. The app comes with full statistics, an email service and even a chess engine. "The beauty of this application is that it works much the same as ChessBase itself, but in a manner that is totally portable," writes Chris Wainscott in his Chess Cafe review.

Chessboxing for men, women and children

12/9/2013 – The subject of chessboxing is not new, and while fascinating on a multitude of levels, has resisted common acceptance with the less adventurous. Nevertheless, ten years into the sport's inception, reports are multiplying on how this ultimate hybrid of brains and brawn is gaining traction with unexpected audiences: white-collar workers, women, and children.

Snowdrops lead Old Hands by five points

12/8/2013 – After five rounds the score is 12.5-7.5 in favour of the female chess players, who have all scored better than their veteran male counterparts. The latter, with an average age of 71, are not in the best shape and feeling the heat from their young opponents, whose average age is 22. Especially Russian WGM Alina Kashlinskaya, 20, has scored 3.5/5 points. Second illustrated report.

Corsica, the land of chess

12/8/2013 – Which country has the highest percentage of registered chess players per capita? Russia, China? India? Nope, not per capita. Iceland? That's closer, but the correct answer is Corsica, which is part of France. It has over 6000 players from a population of 310,000. Léo Battesti, former Vice-President of the French Chess Federation, has produced a video illustrating this success.

Battle of Generations: Shirov massacre

12/7/2013 – The friendly match between Alexei Shirov and Daniil Dubov has been a massacre in favor of the Latvian as he takes a 4.5-0.5 lead with one game to go. The match is ensured a full six games, but there has been little need of that to satisfy the audience's bloodlust. Though Dubov may have been unable to contain Shirov's nuclear brand of chess, the games have been highly entertaining.

Houdini 4: the 800-pound gorilla

12/7/2013 – Houdini 4 has just been released and contains many improvements in all phases of the game making it about 50 Elo stronger than its predecessor. The improved strength means that Houdini 4 nearly doubles the chess performance of your PC for game analysis and match play. It also includes the expected perks: Cloud Engine, 3D board, Live Book and more. Here is a full description.

Nelson Mandela - a man for the ages

12/6/2013 – Last night, Africa’s greatest son passed away, and while it might seem strange for us to do a tribute to Nelson Mandela, considering the very specific focus of our news site, but chess surrounded him and he played it. If ever there was a leader whose strategic planning rivaled even the deepest plans of the chess world champions, it was him. We pay homage to Nelson Mandela and his legacy.

Snowdrops vs Old Hands 2013

12/6/2013 – From November 30th to December 8th the historical spa city of Podebrady is once again hosting a match between a rising generation of female chess players and chess legends of the 20th century. The games are being played in Hotel Zámecek in Podebrady, and after three rounds the Snowdrops were leading by 7.5:4.5. Read all about it in our first illustrated report.