A Journey to Elista (2)

11/7/2020 – The Candidates 2007 took place in "City Chess" in Elista, Kalmykia. This is a neighborhood-size complex consisting of a central, four-story domed City Chess Hall surrounded by an Olympic-style village of Californian-Mediterranean Revival Style architecture, all devoted to chess competition. Just getting there – in an ancient Yakovlev Yak-40 – was an adventure, as was experiencing the city and the FIDE center located there.

A talk with Boris Gelfand: Perpetual Chess Podcast #200

11/4/2020 – For decades Boris Gelfand has been one of the best chess players in the world. The six-time World Championship Candidate, who was born on June 24, 1968, in Minsk, is known for his passion for chess, his deep analyses, and his admiration for Akiba Rubinstein. In episode #200 of the "Perpetual Chess Podcast" Gelfand talks about his career, his life, chess improvement, and his two new books. | Photo: Vladimir Jagr (Archive)

How to fight Queen's Pawn Openings

After 1.d4 d5 many players with White avoid the great amount of theory in the Slav, Semi-Slav, QGA and Orthodox Queen's Gambit and do not therefore play 2.c4. This is not very ambitious, but the painful experience of many chess players has been that the Colle System, the Trompowsky Attack, the Torre Attack and the London System are nevertheless extremely dangerous. Black has to be prepared for each of these openings and IM Valeri Lilov offers you some help with his six instructive videos, in which he demonstrates for each single opening a relevant plan for Black. In addition to the openings mentioned, the Bulgarian trainer also delves into the Catalan, the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit and the Richter-Veresov Opening.