The strongest chess boom in Iran, ever

2/3/2019 – Prior to 2018, there were few world-class chess tournaments dominated by Iranian players — just the odd youth championship. Now Iran is climbing the list of the top countries in the world — currently at number 25, with the average rating of the top ten players rising by the month. The country's 15 GMs, 23 IMs, and 125 total titled players obscures the fact that among the top ten, only two were born before 1995. SHAHROKH MOJTABAEI takes a look at the recent history. | Pictured: Coach Ivan Sokolov with Masoud Mosadeghpour, Alireza Firouzja, Parham Maghsoodloo, Pouya Idani, Seyed Mohammad Amin Tabatabaei | Photo: Iranian Chess Federation

Tata Steel Chess - Round 13 Round-up

1/27/2019 – The 81st Tata Steel Chess Tournament takes place from January 12th to 27th in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands (and two "on tour" locations). The "Masters" has an average Elo of 2753. The "Challengers" weighs in at 2582. Both are 14-player round-robin tournaments. Round-up show live at 20:00 UTC (21:00 CET, 3:00 PM EST) Live commentary by IMs Sopiko Guramishvili and GM Robert Hess from 12:30 UTC (13:30 CET, 7:30 am EST) | Photo: <a href="http://TataSteelChess.com">TataSteelChess.com</a>

Play the Sicilian Najdorf

In 60 minutes you will get a crash course how to play such a complicated opening like the Sicilian Najdorf by the hands of GM van Wely who knows by experience how the dangers look like!The contents: Video 1, 2, 3: how to survive versus whites most aggressive approach: 6. Bc4, 6. Be3 and 6 Bg5. Video 4: how to deal with the latest fashion in the Najdorf 6. h3 and last but not least Video 5: how to play vs the more classical set ups 6. Be2 and 6. g3