FIDE Women's Grand Prix starts in Kazan

6/10/2012 – This twelve-player round robin has a 40,000 Euro prize fund, is part of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix circuit, and has most of the world's elite female players – Hou Yifan, Muzychuk, Humpy, Lahno, the Kosintseva sisters, Stefanova – at the start. Sunday is the first round, and the organisers have promised HD video broadcasts. The opening ceremony was yesterday – here's an illustrated report.

Tal Memorial Rd3 – A round of sacrifices to win, draw, and lose

6/10/2012 – It was a round of sacrifices all round with all the results possible. The first was McShane's brilliant exchange sacrifice that stranded Aronian's king with deadly effect. Then came Kramnik's exchange sacrifice to neutralize Radjabov, and hold the balance. Finally, it was Grischuk who went for broke against Morozevich in a crazy game, but lost. Round three report with GM commentary and video.

Vallejo leads in jubilee Ciudad de León Masters

6/9/2012 – This year it is being staged for the 25th consecutive time, from June 8–10. It pits Bulgarian GM and former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov against his former second Francisco Vallejo, top Spanish GM. In both games of the first day it was Black who had a clear advantage, with White able to defend – until the very last move of the second game, when Topalov was felled by a terrible blunder.

Chess Olympiad in Istanbul – officials from seven countries banned

6/9/2012 – At a recent FIDE meeting the Turkish Chess Federation, which is host to the 40th Chess Olympiad, was given a list of arbiters for the event. TCF President Ali Nihat Yazici rejected any officials from seven countries – England, France, Georgia, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine and the USA – for supporting court cases against FIDE and causing financial damage. The affected federations have protested.

Tal Memorial Rd2 – Kramnik wins model game; Carlsen escapes Moro

6/9/2012 – Kramnik once said that the biggest lesson he learned from the elite was how resiliently they defended. Today Carlsen showed the same gumption as he saved a nightmare position in which Morozevich had doubled rooks on his seventh. McShane cracked at move 40 against Radjabov, while Kramnik played a model game in an impressive win over Grischuk. Illustrated report with GM analysis.

Tal Memorial blitz – A look at some brilliancies

6/8/2012 – The Tal Memorial Blitz was a very fun event for all, as remarked, but it was more than simply a source of frenetic clock slamming and flying pieces. It was the source of more than a few very spectacular shots. It is always a reminder what separates the cream of the crop from the rest of humanity. We separated a handful for your enjoyment.

Tal Memorial Rd1 – White sweeps round with four wins

6/8/2012 – After an exciting blitz tournament to open the Tal Memorial, the question was whether the players could keep the energy level that high. The answer? White registered four wins. Nakamura lost to Aronian after a fatal oversight, while Radjabov outwitted Tomashevsky. Still, Morozevich's inspired win over Caruana was the game of the day. Illustrated report with videos and GM analysis.

Deep Fritz 13 with blow-your-mind functions

6/8/2012 – "So what will Deep Fritz 13 bring," a top GM asked us recently. "More engine strength and multi-processing?" Yes, but in addition our new program lets you access it – or other chess engines – from remote locations, providing awesome power "from the cloud" on your tiny portable notebook. You can even rent other people's hardware at the click of the mouse. Get the download version today.

Central knight in action

6/7/2012 – White wants to catch Black's lonely queen. Which continuation allows him to attain this goal?

A) 47.Nxe6+;
B) 47.Qh3 Kf7;
C) 47.Kg5 Qa2

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Seventh Tal Memorial in Moscow – preliminary blitz

6/7/2012 – The Tal Memorial is a ten-player round robin with eight of the top eleven players in the world taking part. It started on June 7th with a unique drawing of colours: instead of the usual staid ceremony it will be a full-blown nine-round blitz tournament with a 15,000 Euros prize fund – which we were able to watch in a full HD live video stream. Wonderfully executed – to the organisers we say: Chapeau!

Romanian Team Rapid Cup – Impressions of Bucharest

6/7/2012 – Every year around the same dates, end of May – beginning of June, the Romanian Team Rapid Cup is being held. It was a weekend of frenetic chess, and meetings with old friends, but above all, it was a chance to rediscover Bucharest, once known as 'Little Paris', and remake a distorted impression, in this beautifully illustrated report by Alina L'Ami.

Women's World Blitz – Gunina wins with a 2804 performance

6/6/2012 – It was almost Fischer-like: European champion Valentina Gunina ravaged the opposition and finished with an unprecedented 13.0/15, a full 2½ points ahead of her nearest rivals (Natalia Zhukova and Anna Muzychuk). Gunina, the only IM in the top group of five GMs, did not lose a single game. We bring you results, a video report and closing ceremony pictures in our final report.

The Power Play Show with GM Daniel King

6/6/2012 – Improvement of your own play is one of the main aims when you are engaged in chess training. GM Daniel King is an expert who can guide you in achieving this goal. In his Power Play show he will present a bunch of practical examples and show you how to handle different kinds of positions, which will help improve your practical results. An example and more information.

Ernst & Young: Aronian against French students

6/6/2012 – On June 2–3, the French branch of Ernst & Young, one of the largest professional service firms in the world, organized its now traditional chess tournaments between the best French universities and "Grandes Ecoles". The winning teams earn the right to play in a clock simul against Levon Aronian, the world's second highest ranked chess player. Report and games.

Endgame Magic with GM Karsten Müller

6/5/2012 – Endgame knowledge is not easy to acquire and for this reason it is a valuable weapon in practical tournament play. In his Endgame Magic Show on Playchess, the well-known endgame expert GM Karsten Müller will assist you with a bunch of practical endgames. He shows how to handle the positions, which will help improve your results. An example and more information.

Andrew Martin – Investigations in the Marshall Gambit

6/5/2012 – On a day without cricket (due to bad weather) IM Andrew Martin, chess trainer and prolific ChessBase author, decided to take a look at the Marshall Gambit in the Ruy Lopez. He found some interesting things which he kindly shares with us – in form of a video lecture, quite in the style of his popular Fritz-Trainer DVDs. It will be a well-invested 20 minutes that may earn you a few Elo points. Do not miss.

Anand on the match, returns to Chennai to a two crore welcome

6/4/2012 – Two days after successfully defending his World Championship title in Moscow Viswanathan Anand spoke at length and with considerable frankness to the Indian TV station NDTV about the match and the criticism that had been levelled against him. He then flew back to his home town of Chennai in Southern India to a tumultuous welcome and a special cash prize from the government. TV reports.

Women's World Rapid in Batumi – Pictorial Part 1

6/4/2012 – We brought you the video report of this very attractive event, won by Bulgarian GM Antoaneta Stefanova. Now, with the Blitz World Championship under way, it is time for a big pictorial. This was sent to us by our colleague Anastasya Karlovich, whose photographic skills are growing from event to event. "Nastya" not only provides professional pictures but also very useful player portraits.

The third Danzhou tournament – chess and children

6/4/2012 – If the Danzhou grandmaster tournament is celebrating its third edition, it is because the Danzhou Chess Federation also makes sure it is more than a congregation of the country's best players. It is a chance to give chess in its region a shot in the arm like few. On the rest day after round five, a full day of activities involving hundreds of children was organized. Pictorial by WGM Gu Xiaobing.

Women's World Blitz – Gunina on fire

6/4/2012 – The reigning European champion in classical chess and blitz, Valentina Gunina, has scored a stunning 8.0/8 points on the first day of the Women’s World Blitz Championship, to take a two-point lead over the rest of the field. Her nearest rivals are IM Mariya Muzychuk and GMs Nana Dzagnidze, Anna Muzychuk and Natalia Zhukova. Results, video plus part two of our Rapid pictorial.

Maribor: European Capital of Culture to host chess events

6/4/2012 – It is the second largest city in Slovenia and jointly with Guimarães in Portugal, the 2012 European Capital of Culture. Recently it staged the meeting of Nobel peace prize laureates, and from May to September it will host chess tournaments, which will include top players, politicians, sportsmen, women to the youngest novices. The slogan is: Maribor will be the capital of chess in 2012!

CBM training: US Championships revisited

6/3/2012 – "Please consider having Karsten annotate the game from the final round between Melekina-Ni," wrote Michael Bacon from Asheville, USA. "Melekina had a winning position, but let it slip in the ending, something I, and many others, have done all too often." Our ChessBase Magazin endgame expert Dr Karsten Müller was happly to comply and sent us four endgames from the tournament.

Stefanova wins Women's World Rapid in Batumi

6/3/2012 – The top-ranked players were all battling for the medals, but it was the luckiest (by her own admission) who took Gold in the end. Antoneta Stefanova could hardly complain – two of her highest-ranked opponents blundered winning positions to mate in two or mate in one. The Blitz Championship starts on Monday. From the final rounds of the Rapid we are treated to Europe Echecs video reports.

Women's World Rapid and Blitz in Batumi

6/2/2012 – The Women's World Rapid and Blitz championships have started in Batumi, Georgia. It brings together many of the top female players around the world, including Anna Muzychuk (2598) and Koneru Humpy (2589), though not Hou Yifan, who is currently playing in Danzhou. Both events are well-funded with $12000 to the rapid winner and $10000 to the blitz winner. Illustrated report with videos.