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>

Beating the French According to Viktor Kupreichik

Former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik liked to play the French and once described it as a 'difficult and dangerous opening'. But in this 60 minutes video IM Andrew Martin suggests an aggressive and little-used idea of the renowned attacking player GM Viktor Kupreichik to counter the French: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Be3!?. Andrew Martin uses the games of Kupreichik to show why this line could catch many French aficionados unprepared and is very dangerous for Black. Attacking players will love this line and the unusual complications that it promotes.