Candidates R12 – full report, pictures, videos

3/30/2013 – The twelfth round of the Candidates was easily the most dramatic of this tournament so far: Kramnik's victory over Aronian and Ivanchuk's defeat of Magnus Carlsen turned all expectations upside down. IM Lawrence Trent and Nigel Short doing a splendid commentary job on the World Chess live broadcast. If you missed the action yesterday you can relive the round and commentary – all six hours of it.

Ketevan to be operated in Berlin in April

3/30/2013 – We recently reported that during the Women's World Chess Team Championship, which was held from March 2nd to 12th in Astana, Kazakhstan, one participant, Georgian IM Salome Melia, was not playing only for the honour of her country, but also for her daughter, four-month-old daughter Ketevan, who desperately needs a heart operation. Here's how things developed.

Candidates R12 – Kramnik wins, overtakes Carlsen

3/29/2013 – A tremendously exciting round: Vladimir Kramnik pulled off an incredibly important victory over Levon Aronian, who blundered in the endgame. Meanwhile Magnus Carlsen got into trouble against Vassily Ivanchuk, who won the rook ending in impeccable style. This left Kramnik in the lead, with two rounds to go.  High drama.

Candidates – tiebreaks, chances of winning

3/29/2013 – In his last statistical evaluation of the tournament Jeff Sonas gave Magnus Carlsen a 71% chance of winning the tournament and becoming the challenger. Levon Aronian had a 12% chance and Vladimir Kramnik 9%. In his latest article we see how the values have changes. In addition, if you were wondering how the tiebreak system works in case of a tie, here's a precise explanation.

Candidates – Postmortems of round eleven

3/29/2013 – Alexander Grischuk drew against tournament leader Magnus Carlsen with a coffeehouse move; Vladimir Kramnik beat Teimour Radjabov, who fell for a nice trick on move 28; Peter Svidler played a potentially tournament-deciding game by beating Carlsen's main rival Levon Aronian; Vassily Ivanchum and Boris Gelfand ended an theoretical duel with a draw on move 17. Press conferences.

Candidates R11 – Kramnik wins, Aronian loses

3/28/2013 – Magnus Carlsen played a coasting 23-move draw against Alexander Grischuk. Meanwhile his nearest rival, Levon Aronian, came a cropper against Peter Svidler and is now a full point behind the Norwegian. But: Vladimir Kramnik beat Teimour Radjabov and, with three rounds to go, is just half a point behind the leader. Express report with pictures, games and standings.

Candidates R10 – the odds of winning the event

3/28/2013 – In our follow-up of round ten of the Candidates we bring you new pictures from London, and video postgame analysis conducted with the players immediately after they finished the rounds. Some of the explanations are humorous, many highly revealing. As an additional bonus we bring you the latest Monte Carlo calculations of the odds of each player winning the event.

Candidates R10 – Kramnik, Aronian, Carlsen win

3/27/2013 – Once again the spectators were given a feast of great chess. Radjabov-Svidler ended in an early repetition, while the first win came after Grischuk blundered and converted into a lost endgame against Kramnik. Aronian beat Ivanchuk by exploiting his opponent’s time trouble to complicate and attack, and Carlsen ground down Gelfand in the same opening Radjabov had nearly defeated him with.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (97)

3/27/2013 – London, one hundred years ago. Facing Edward Lasker in a seven-board simultaneous display, Capablanca produced an entertaining and instructive game that received analytical attention from Alekhine and Spielmann. The Editor of Chess Notes provides extensive information on the game, reproducing material from Austria, Cuba, England, Germany, the Netherlands and the US. A remarkable encounter.

First female Advanced Chess match

3/27/2013 – In Advanced Chess players are allowed to consult a computer during the game, analysing the position and making decisions about their next moves. A match has been organised on April 2nd between reigning women's world champion GM Anna Ushenina and President of the All-Ukrainian Charity Foundation «Chess for Children»WIM Olena Boytsun. Press release.

Candidates – Who is going to win?

3/26/2013 – Last night an old friend – a very strong player – asked us to estimate the chances of Magnus Carlsen finishing this tournament as the winner. He thought it was four to one. Today we received exact calculations from statistician Jeff Sonas. They contain some remarkable information. Did you know that for Carlsen finishing tied for first is almost as bad as finishing second? Read and believe.

Candidates – Round nine postmortems

3/26/2013 – Magnus Carlsen magically survived a powerful novelty by Vladimir Kramnik in a Catalan; Peter Svidler and Alexander Grischuk played the most spectacular game of the tournament so far; after six and a half hours of play, Vassily Ivanchuk scored his first win of the tournament; and Boris Gelfand defeated Levon Aronian in a game that was critical for the tournament standings. Postgame press conferences.

Candidates R9 – Carlsen survives, Aronian loses

3/25/2013 – A leader emerges – naturally it's Carlsen. The Norwegian super-star must count how many lives he has remaining, as he certainly used one up today to salvage his game against Kramnik. Aronian fell prey to an emerging Gelfand, which gives Carlsen solo lead. Svidler and Grischuk played a spectacular game, while Ivanchuk ground down Radjabov with technical precision. Full report inside.

Maurice Ashley at TED

3/25/2013 – You know him as one of the most dynamic speakers in chess, and a grandmaster and author, and today and next Monday, he is going to be the live commentator of the Candidates games at Playchess. However, recently he appeared at the world-renowned TED speaker platform, and more specifically their TED Ed program, discussing how to solve problems backwards. See his fascinating talk.

Alekhine Memorial International Super-Tournament

3/25/2013 – This event, which will be held from April 20 to May 1st at the world-famous Louvre Museum in Paris. The participants: Anand, Kramnik, Aronian, Svidler, Gelfand, Vachier-Lagrave, Fressinet, Adams, Vitiugov and Ding Liren. The event will open with a concert by Russian pianist Nikolai Lugansky, who is a chess fan and a great admirer of Alexander Alekhine. A cultural treat.

Candidates – round eight postmortems

3/25/2013 – As you probably know and have seen, at the London Candidates, in addition to the live commentary during the entire round, the players have agreed to give live interviews immediately after each round, and actually analyse the games they have just completed. This often provides fascinating insights to their thinking, as well as many interesting factoids around the game.

Candidates R8 – Kramnik, Gelfand, Grischuk win

3/24/2013 – One of the wonderful things about chess is its unpredictability, and after two rounds of all draws where wins had been expected, today saw three wins where at most one was expected. While Carlsen and Aronian drew, Radjabov fell prey to a battling Gelfand, Kramnik squeezed Svidler until he choked, and Grischuk beat Ivanchuk in his first Candidates win in six years. Round eight report.

ChessCasting – making the invisible visible!

3/24/2013 – At the London Candidates Tournament we can see an ambitious project by the organisers FIDE and AGON: the innovative display of the games in progress, on mobile tablets for the audience and on computer screens for people at home. The goal is to make this software platform the standard for chess entertainment broadcasting and turn chess into an exciting spectator sport. Press release.

Candidates R7 – Mercy was the constant

3/23/2013 – Four draws, but the round could easily have had three decisive results. Ivanchuk-Svidler was a lifeless draw. Aronian couldn’t convert a pleasant position against Grischuk. But the highlights of the day were clearly the missed opportunities by Gelfand and Radjabov against Kramnik and Carlsen – one could’ve smashed his opponent’s kingside, the other was simply up an exchange. Round seven report.

A Game of Chicken: Ivanov rides again

3/23/2013 – In the last weeks of 2012 he wowed the chess world with a 2700 performance. Two months later the new Bulgarian star FM Borislav Ivanov finished 88th in the Plovdiv, this time with a performance of 1970. Then came another enviable achievement, a clear win at the Villava rapid (again with a 2700 performance). What is going on? Alex Karaivanov speculates, with new video analysis by Valeri Lilov.

Candidates – postmortem of round six

3/22/2013 – The first game to end was Svidler vs Carlsen, a smooth win for the Norwegian in a more or less standard Ruy Lopez position. Levon Aronian beat Teimour Radjabov on the black side of another relatively quiet Ruy. Vladimir Kramnik had good chances against Vassily Ivanchuk, but once again couldn't get the ball into the net. Carlsen and Aronian now have a 1.5 lead over the field. Video postgame discussions and analysis by IM Zura Javakhadze.

Candidates R6 – Carlsen, Aronian win, lead

3/21/2013 – Joseph "the Black Death" Blackburne – famous for his prowess with the Black pieces - must be smiling as he sees today’s games in the Candidates! As the second player, Carlsen and Aronian dismantled Svidler’s and Radjabov’s early d3 Spanish. Gelfand couldn’t punish Grischuk’s blunder, and Kramnik and Ivanchuk drew in a wild game. Analysis to follow. Express report.

1st Chess & Science Festival for girls

3/21/2013 – Many parents still believe that science, business and mathematics are for men and their daughters should not compete in these areas. It’s sad, but it is true – girls are encouraged to go into music, art, teaching… and stay away from the areas currently dominated by men. Three-time US Women's Champion WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia wants to do something about this – with a Kickstarter project.

Candidates – postmortem of round five

3/21/2013 – One of the fascinating innovations of top-level chess tournaments is that players have now agreed to give live interviews immediately after each round, and actually analyse the games they have just completed. Take a look at round five, where all eight players appeared to discuss their games  with press officer Anastasiya Karlovich.