Candidates for the forthcoming FIDE elections

6/29/2010 – The applications had to be in by June 28th, and two candidates met the deadline: the incumbent FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, nominated by Russia, Argentina and Mexico; and challenger Anatoly Karpov, nominated by France, Germany and Switzerland. On Tuesday FIDE published the list of candidates for Continental Presidents as well. Announcement.

Round table: how to make the game of chess more popular

6/29/2010 – That was the subject of discussion at a conference held in Odessa, Ukraine, at the end of May. For the first time a meaningful dialog had been initiated between chess players, their managers, FIDE and the Association of Chess Professionals. The Round Table was initiated and moderated by Olena Boytsun, executive secretary of the ACP, who sent us this report.

Lawrence Trent's Two Knights Defence

6/28/2010 – "There are two kinds of opening works," FM Dennis Monokroussos writes, "honest ones and dishonest ones. The latter feature a great deal of cheerleading in place of careful analysis." Dennis was pleasantly surprised to see IM Lawrence Trent's Fritz Trainer DVD contains no rah-rah spiel promoting the virtues of the opening, but honest, eminently practical advice. Review.

The Rybka4 Book – a treasure trove for tournament players (Part 2)

6/28/2010 – A week ago we published an interview with Jiri Dufek, the author of this powerful and very useful openings book. Jiri told us how it was made and what it was useful for. The final question to him was: "Can you show us a few interesting novelties from the book?" His answer: "Sure…" Today he gives us a small sample of ideas and discoveries found in the Rybka4 book. Take a deep breath.

'Magnus Carlsen: King Among Chess Kings'

6/28/2010 – "Imagine," writes GM Lubomir Kavalek, "Usain Bolt, the fabulous Jamaican sprinter and world record-holder, running a 100 meter dash against the world's best contenders and winning by 20 meters. This is how the Norwegian chess superstar Magnus Carlsen dealt with the opposition at the elite Kings Tournament in Romania. Kavalek is especially enchanted by Magnus' use of the King's Gambit.

Dzagnidze leads in Jermuk

6/28/2010 – After winning three game in the first four rounds 23-year-old Georgian GM Nana Dzagnidze is in the lead with 3.5/4 and a 2800+ performance. She is followed by GM Tatiana Kosintseva, who is being assisted by her sister IM Nadezhda. 16-year-old Hou Yifan, who is the top ranked player in Jermuk, lost her first two games, but has struck back with two wins. Pictorial report.

FIDE Women Grand Prix in Jermuk

6/27/2010 – This high-class event with most of the top female players and a prize fund of € 40,000 is the fourth of six to be staged in different places during this and the coming year. New: the winner gets to challenge the women's world champion (when did this happen?). Three rounds have been played in the beautiful spa town Jermuk. We bring you a big pictorial report.

Medias R9: All games drawn, Carlsen lead ahead of Gelfand

6/25/2010 – On his 42nd birthday today Boris Gelfand had the advantage, but failed to convert it when his clock ran out of time. Magnus Carlsen didn't try another King's Gambit, but his opponent, Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu pulled a well-prepared Jaenisch on him and held him to a draw. On the free day there was another soccer match. We have pictures and a fairly radical proposal to improve football.

Two queens versus one...

6/25/2010 – ... was not saying too much in this game from this year's Polish Championship, since after all the greatest good in chess remains the king. What is your verdict on the sequence 46.Qf8+ Kh5 47.d8Q in this position?
A) win for White;
B) win for Black;
C) draw.

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

Medias R10: Magnus Carlsen wins with two-point lead

6/25/2010 – In all three games of the final round Black was victorious: Radjabov beat Gelfand, Ponomariov beat Nisipeanu and Carlsen beat Wang Yue. This left the youngest player with the highest rating two full points clear of the field, with an incredible 2918 performance. That translates to a FIDE rating of 2826, the second highest in chess history. Final report with commentary by Dorian Rogozenco.

Kavalek at Huffington: Even the Champions Get It Wrong

6/24/2010 – In chess one small slip can turn a winning advantage into a draw – or even a loss. Nobody is immune to blunders, not even the champions. That is a common theme in the excellent new book John Nunn's Chess Endings. The English grandmaster gives plenty of examples where the mighty falter. GM Lubomir Kavalek picks two positions for his HuffPost chess column. Solutions next week.

United engines – which one do I need?

6/24/2010 – What chess program is best suited for analysis? Rybka, Fritz, or Shredder? Is there any sense in using more than one of them? Bo Bredenhof is a correspondence chess player and experienced engine user for years. In his article at  chesscafe.com he tells us where each top programs has its strengths and where it fails to find the best move. His bottom line: united they stand strong.

Second chance: Women's Blitz Qualifier on Playchess

6/23/2010 – The first Women's World Blitz Championship is in Moscow from September 15 to 18, with a total prize fund of € 60,000. Two Online Qualifiers on the Playchess server allow five players each to qualify for the finals. The first was completed last Saturday, the second will be held on Thursday, June 24th at 19:00h (CEST). You can still make it. Results and details.

Physical fitness of young chess players

6/23/2010 – You may have suspected it, but a study by two scientists has produced empirical proof: being physically fit is good for your chess. Their conclusions: organisers should provide facilities for active forms of recreation; parents and chess coaches, and the players themselves, should be aware of the significance of fitness preparation. Study by Agnieszka Fornal-Urban and Anna Keska.

Zalakaros Chess Festival 2010

6/23/2010 – IM Tamas Horvath is the organiser of this impeccably run event, which takes place in a pretty little spa town in the Balaton lake region of Hungary, an oasis of peace and tranquility. The 2000 Euro first prize drew a large number of titled players: nine GMs, 22 IMs and 19 FMs, WGMs and WIMs. Young talents abound. You will see many new faces and this big pictorial report.

Medias R7: Carlsen wins fourth game in a row

6/22/2010 – The Kings Tournament has moved to its original location in Bazna, and Magnus Carlsen continues his amazing series, scoring his fourth consecutive win, this time on the white side of a Sicilian Dragon against Teimour Radjabov. The performance of the 19-year-old Norwegian: 2955. Gelfand defeated Nisipeanu and is now alone in second place. Commentary by GM Dorian Rogozenco.

From the Z1 to the Singularity – Zuse's 100th birthday

6/22/2010 – The German engineer and computer pioneer Konrad Zuse was born one hundred years ago today. He is considered the inventor of the world's first programmable computer, and the first high-level programming language. This anniversary leads us to pause and consider how far we have come in a single human lifetime – and where the development of computers is leading. Food for thought.

Medias R8: Carlsen draws (at last), leads by one point

6/22/2010 – For a while there, towards the end of his game against Boris Gelfand, it looked as though the Norwegian super-GM was going to pull off a fifth victory. Actually Magnus Carlsen had escaped from some pressure exerted by his Israeli opponent. Radjabov-Ponomariov ended in a draw, while Wang Yue messed up his white game against Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and lost. GM commentary.

Medias R6: Carlsen's hat-trick against Ponomariov

6/21/2010 – Two games in round six of this Category 20 Super-GM ended in draws, but the ever astonishing Magnus Carlsen struck out again, for the third time in succession and with the black pieces, this time goading Ruslan Ponomariov into complication which the young Norwegian understood better. His performance so far is 2919, his "live rating" 2821. Commentary by GM Dorian Rogozenco.

Openings surveys in CBM 136

6/21/2010 – After 6...c5 in the Vienna Variation of the Orthodox Queen's Gambit, theory frequently stretches far into the middlegame. But recently 6...h6 has come into contention – Kramnik, Aronian and Ivanchuk have all tried it. If this alternative turns out to be reliable, Black will have an elegant option to simply avoid the thicket of variations after the main move. Evgeny Postny has looked into the subject and provided us with thorough analysis of top games. His conclusion is cautious, since the idea is still fresh. But in the next issue of CBM there will be fresh annotated games with 6...h6. Read: Postny: Vienna with 6...h6.

Ivanchuk wins Capablanca Memorial with 2839 performance

6/21/2010 – Vassily Ivanchuk has won the Elite Group of this auspicious tournament, for the fourth time – something no other player has yet achieved. Second was 19-year-old GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, followed by Leinier Dominguez and Nigel Short. The FIDE presidential campaign has hit Cuba, with both Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Anatoly Karpov visiting the closing ceremony. The former came there bearing gifts.

The Rybka4 Book – a treasure trove for tournament players

6/21/2010 – Two weeks ago we brought you an interview with the Rybka4 autor Vasik Rajlich. Today his openings specialist Jiri Dufek, who was a member of the Veselin Topalov World Championship team, tells us about the Rybka4 Book, which was generated with a 100-core machine and which not only makes the program even stronger – it also contains important novelties for tournament players. Part one.

Cheparinov wins Ruy Lopez Masters with 2904 performance

6/20/2010 – The Master Group of the Ruy Lopez International Chess Festival 2010 was an eight-player Category 14 event (average Elo 2599), with mainly young and ambitious chess talents participating. It was won with a stunning 6.0/7 score by Ivan Cheparinov, known for seconding and assisting former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov. Report with beautiful pictures by Jorge Armestar Marroquin.

Medias R5: Carlsen strikes again, leads the field

6/20/2010 – It's not easy being the hot favourite in a Category 20 tournament – anything but clear victory would be considered a sensation. Well, top seed Magnus Carlsen has set to work. After three draws he has won two games in a row and leads the field ahead of Radjabov and Gelfand. On the free day there was a soccer match. Pictures and GM commentary of round five.