First Fagernes Chess Festival – Chess in the fjords

4/28/2011 – Though Magnus Carlsen really put Norway on the map in the chess world, not many really know what this untamed northern country is like. To celebrate the Norwegian Federation's 100th anniversary, Øystein Brekke organized the 1st Fagernes chess festival, attracting several grandmasters. Recording the event with his camera, here is a photo report by Sergey Tiviakov.

Swedish chess players on Playchess

4/27/2011 – ChessBase and the Swedish Chess Federation (Sveriges Schackförbund – SSF) are offering Swedish chess players the chance to play online chess for a special price on the leading chess server Playchess.com. Peter Halvarsson of the SSF: "We are delighted to offer Internet play of a high quality on an easy-to-use server to our younger members coming directly from schools." Press release.

Hou Yifan wins the First Women Master in Wuxi

4/27/2011 – This astonishing 17-year-old, who already owns the women's world championship title, went into this tournament as top seed and by winning her final two games took first place a full point ahead of the field. In second place was WGM Shen Yang and in third, by tiebreak, WGM Ju Wenjun (who also won both her final games). Final report.

Master Moves #11

4/27/2011 – All the deepest plans or endgame technique are useless if you fall victim to a shot that leaves you in a lost position. Likewise, sometimes that superior play will only offer a single window of opportunity to deliver that final blow, so it is vital to be ready for it when it does. All the positions are from the 2011 Russian Team Championship. Shirk the shackles of duncedom!

CBM Blog: Keeping control and rook endings

4/26/2011 – "I would like to thank Dr. Karsten Müller for his outstanding work on endgames," wrote Nicholas Jodidio of Switzerland. "I deeply admire his work for ChessBase which really gives me love for the game." Other readers have expressed themselves in similar vein. Well, here's another installment from the CBM Blog, giving us valuable tips on the use of knights and rooks.

2011 US Championships: Finals all set to go

4/26/2011 – It had promised to be a change of the guard, but in the end the veterans Kamsky and Shulman had the last word, as they setup to decide the title once more. In the women's championship, Zattonskih confirmed her rise from the ashes as she overcame Krush in a very tense playoff. She meets Abrahamyan in the finals. The live commentators had a surprise interview with Garry Kasparov.

The counterattack

4/26/2011 – The opponent's exposed king lured White into playing 42.Qe6xd6 in this position, attacking the Bc6 while enhancing his own dark-squared bishop. Which continuation leads to advantage for Black now?
A) 42...Rf1+
B) 42...Bxg2
C) neither nor, White is simply better

The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

2011 Russian Team Chp: Caruana and Najer bring HSM-64 to victory

4/25/2011 – It was an exciting finish to a fantastic Russian Team championship. In an almost ironic twist, HSM-64 had chosen to import youthful talents Caruana and Giri, as well as Wang Hao. The gamble paid off as Caruana helped his team with a huge 8.0/10 and 2852 performance and a superb Najer on board six. Tomsk-400 with Ponomariov, Motylev, and Kurnosov lost by a half a game point. Final report.

Bobby Fischer’s Remarkable Rise and Fall...

4/25/2011 – ... from America’s Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness. That's the full title of a fascinating book we are currently reading, one which was written by Dr Frank Brady, who knew Fischer from his early youth onwards. It is going to take us some time to go through all 402 pages, so for now we bring you, courtesy of the English magazine CHESS, an in-depth review by Sean Marsh.

Hou beats Gu, loses to Ding, remains in the lead

4/24/2011 – Translation: top seed GM Hou Yifan defeated WGM Gu Xiaobing in a spectacular round six game, but then lost to WGM Ding Yixin after an unfortunate blunder in round seven. Still the 17-year-old women's world champion remains in the lead at the Women's Masters. On the free day the players visited a school campus and played against chess enthusiastic children. Big pictorial report.

Easter puzzles by Benko – a World Champion challenge

4/24/2011 – Pál Benkö, 82 and still going strong, is a world class grandmaster, author and problem composer. He is also a faithful friend who periodically sends us puzzles for our newspage. This time, for Easter, he has selected four problems which stumped a World Champion. It is a challenge for you to do better, and win a special prize in the process. Enjoy.

Turkish Children's Team Championship 2011

4/23/2011 – There is something wonderfully charming about young children playing chess – devoting themselves to a single task with all their concentration and energy. The Turkish Chess Federation claims that today 2.25 million children play the game. Of these 288 took part in the Turkish Children's Team Championship for players under eleven. WGM Anastasiya Karlovich sent us this giant pictorial report.

2011 US Championships: Dramatic tiebreaks

4/23/2011 – The last round of the preliminaries was dramatic, especially in the women's section where Foisor was forced into the tiebreaks precisely against Zatonskih who had just beaten her. As if signaling a change in the leadership, Zatonskih used her momentum by then trouncing Foisor in the tiebreaks. In the men's Shankland beat Onischuk to also make the semis. Report and full videos.

Winter on Capablanca – a milestone in chess literature

4/23/2011 – It has been hailed as a masterpiece of scholarship. Nigel Short says it is "undoubtedly one of the best chess books I have read", and Yasser Seirawan describes it as "a magnificently researched work by the world’s most renowned chess historian". Capablanca's widow loved it too. Now, Edward Winter’s volume on the Cuban genius is available for the first time in paperback. Simply unmissable.

2011 Russian Team Championship: Ponomariov runs over Ivanchuk

4/22/2011 – It was one of the biggest matches of the event, with leader Tomsk-400, headed by Ponomariov and Motylev, facing Elo-favorites CHF-St. Petersburg, with Ivanchuk and Svidler as their top boards. On board one, Ponomariov as Black achieved a very active position, and won in under 30 moves. Though they saved the match, HSM-64 was able to draw level. Report on rounds eight and nine.

Hou Yifan beats Ju Wenjun to lead First Women's Masters

4/21/2011 – The top seeds collided in round four, and in that game it was reigning women's world champion who took the full point. This put 17-year-old Hou Yifan a full point ahead of the field. In round five that narrowed to half a point. Hou is now followed by fourth seed WGM Shen Yang and – surprise – ninth seed WGM Gu Xiaobing, who defeated GM Zhao Xue in round four. Report after round five.

CBM Blog: The Domination Game and Slovakian surprises

4/21/2011 – The rook is usually far superior to the bishop in an endgame. In 1993 the remarkable Noam Elkies proved that a certain position that was thought to be drawn was in fact a win for White. The knight really is a tricky piece, as shown by our GM endgame expert Karsten Müller in a second Bundesliga game. His CBM blog provides valuable instructions for novice and advanced players.

Four and a half million games at your fingertips – literally

4/21/2011 – Do you own an iPhone? Or an iPod, or a 64 GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi and 3G, like some grandmasters we know? If like them you have been reading our info banners you will know that you can now have fast and mobile access to a 4½ million game database, with full statistical information and a game tree. And you can have it in minutes. Price: 3.99 Euros. ChessBase Online for Apple.

2011 US Championships: Hess and Krush first to finals

4/21/2011 – Four and five were the number of straight wins that Hess and Krush respectively posted to secure their spots in the finals. Despite nervy play play from all, Hess showed his nerves were steadier than most, much as Krush who won five straight games after her initial loss. Foisor lost the lead after a slip though should make it. The final two rounds will be intense! Illustrated report with videos.

2011 Russian Team Championship led by Tomsk-400 with 100%

4/20/2011 – Despite being only fifth on the starting line, Tomsk-400 has been tearing the opposition apart with seven wins in seven, featuring Ponomariov and Motylev with 2800+ performances. HSM-64 has also dropped only one draw, spearheaded by teenage stars Caruana and Giri, with Evjeny Najer covering the rear with a 2959 performance! The women's event has also started. Report and pictures.

Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta wins Dubai Open

4/20/2011 – Everyone thought it would be Indian GM Parimarjan Negi, who had led the field for most of the tournament. But in the final round he had to play his compatriat Abhijeet Gupta, with just a draw required to win solo first. However Parimarjan blundered and Abhijeet took the point and the title, while his opponent had to settle for second in a group of four GMs. Final report.

Hou Yifan and Ju Wenjun lead in First Women's Masters

4/19/2011 – The event is taking place in Wuxi, China, and features top national female players. Top seed – by 83 points – and clear favourite is reigning women's world champion GM Hou Yifan, who together with second seed WGM Ju Wenjun has scored 2.5/3 points. To start our reporting on this very attractive event we present the participants in a big picture parade.

2011 US Championships: midway through prelims

4/19/2011 – Past the midway mark of the preliminaries in the US championship, one of the men's groups is seeing 19-year-olds Robert Hess and Sam Shankland take the reins, while the other group is dominated by veterans Kamsky and Shulman. The women's is still led by Foisor followed closely be a resurgent Krush. The illustrated report of rounds three and four includes a video interview with Hikaru Nakamura.

Get your chess degree

4/19/2011 – Learning chess strategy is not only a matter of improving your play. Gaining a new and deeper understanding here is accompanied by a change in view of the game and a refreshed interest in it. GM Mikalchishin's new DVD-series "Strategy University" is an excellent example, providing you with lots of new aspects that you may never have been aware of. Buy it now or read this review.