4/3/2015 – Yep, the Google X lab project to replace human molars with electronic devices (and use them to play 3000+ level chess) was the April 1st hoax. Pure invention – well, as far as we know. So we are left with having to believe in a possible refutation to the English Opening and that the minor planet Vishyanand is circling the sun. Perfectly true – in fact you can name a planet yourself!
4/1/2015 – In 1988 an asteroid or minor planet was discovered, but remained unnamed for more than ten years. Michael Rudenko, committee member of the Minor Planet Center, a chess buff with a Playchess account, decided it was appropriate to name the object after Viswanathan Anand, himself an astronomy buff. It is now officially known as '(4538) Vishyanand'.
5/26/2014 – A week ago we published a picture of a masked man holding up a ChessBase
logo. He was, we said, in the process of playing two correspondence chess
games – under unusual circumstances. We asked our readers to guess
the location of the player. A surprising number got it right – perhaps
because the solution could be found on our
Facebook page?! Here now is the full story.
2/3/2014 – Some go for a walk near the lake, others may watch a movie. Former World Champion Viswanathan Anand took a quick break to photograph some astronomical objects in the southern hemisphere – with a remotely controlled 20-inch telescope. He was helped by Dr Christian Sasse, who himself caught a supernova two days ago in a nearby galaxy – the second in a week. Astronomy by chess players.
9/26/2013 – The Russian Internet TV channel Chess TV has recorded two interview for
the upcoming World Championship match. Last week we showed you the
first with Norwegian challenger Magnus Carlsen; today we bring you a
23-minute interview with Viswanathan Anand in which the World Champion expresses
his thoughts on the match, his chess career and life in general. Do not miss this one.
2/18/2013 – If there is no gravitational connection it is an incredible coincidence: on the day the asteroid 2012 DA14 is due to fly past earth in the closest encounter of a substantial interplanatry object in living history, a meteor exploded over the Siberian city of Chelyabinsk, where last October's FIDE Grand Prix was scheduled to be held (the chess connection!). Here are some scary videos.
2/11/2013 – He was one of the older competitors, but John Nunn once again showed that his brain is in top shape by winning this tough competition by 43 points out of the maximum of 45, the highest score achieved in recent years (and four points more than his nearest rival). He has written a report for us, with an interesting astronomical image and three sample studies for you to solve.
8/27/2012 – Waikiki, the beautiful beach on the southern coast of the Hawaiian island of O'ahu, is a tourist magnet. It was recently "blessed to count among its visitors the World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand, his wife Aruna, and their sixteen-month-old son, Akhil," writes Beau Mueller, who spent time with the astronomy enthusiast and even taught him how to say Humuhumunukunukuapua'a!
8/11/2012 – Yesterday Kung-Ming Tiong drew
a comparison between no-contest badminton matches at the Olympics in London,
which led to the disqualification of eight players, and short, uncontested draws
in grandmaster tournament. Our readers reacted vigorously, mainly pointing to
the rather obvious fact that there are no draws in badminton. But many have
other valid objections.
12/8/2011 – Free day at Olympia in Kensington, but packed full of activities, such as a talk on ChessBase and Fritz 13, and a screening of the new Bobby Fischer film. But the highlight was a lecture delivered by astronomer Dr Christian Sasse together with GMs Vishy Anand and John Nunn, who showed the enthralled spectators how they capture images of distant galaxies using remote telescopes.
11/29/2011 – The free day (December 7th) at this event is filled with special activities: at 2.30 p.m. the ChessBase "Geek in Chief" Nick Murphy gives a workshop; at 4 p.m. there's a screening of the award winning documentary Bobby Fischer against the World; and then at 7 p.m. John Nunn, aided by Vishy Anand will look into the night sky using a telescope in Australia. Details and full pairings.
9/26/2011 – In his report
on the competition, which was won by 19-year-old Kacper Piorun, the second-placed
solver, GM Dr John Nunn, presented a selection of problems which the competitors
had to face. Today he presents the solutions, in the unique explanatory style
that has made his many chess books so popular. Studying his notes allows you
to delve into the magical world of chess problems.
3/30/2011 – The months of January and February saw two other major solving events. Both were won by John Nunn, a remarkable feat given that he was one of the older participants. John sent us sample positions from both contests, which we passed on to our readers. His explanation of the solutions is possibly even more valuable than the problems themselves. We start with the ISC Solving Contest.
3/9/2011 – The early part of each year involves a busy schedule of events in the problem
solving world. We already reported on the Tata
Steel Study Solving competition, and the months of January and February
saw two other major solving events. Both were won by John Nunn, a remarkable
feat given that he was one of the older participants. Report with sample problems.
1/26/2011 – It is the most prestigious award in Japan, often referred to as the "Asian Nobel Prize". It is given for outstanding achievements in science and technology, and is worth $600,000. This year it goes to two American scientists who forty years ago created the Unix operating system and the computer language C. One of them is also a computer chess pioneer who visited the London Chess Classic.
12/25/2010 – We still can't get over what has been for us the tournament of the year. Apart from the super-exciting chess there was so much to see and so many interesting people to meet, that there are bound to be a few retrospective articles to appear on our pages. We start with some interesting pictures that did not make it to our daily reports. Big pictorial review.
12/14/2010 – The penultimate round saw four draws, but that had the spectators on the edges of their seats. Adams and Anand was a trench war draw, while Short and Howell exchanged blows in a King's Gambit. McShane and Nakamura also slugged it out, but the game of the round was Kramnik's crushing position against Carlsen, only to liquidate into an endgame that proved unwinnable. Round six report.
12/13/2010 – The game between the two leaders was a tough trial for the tournament's dark horse, McShane, who found himself in a difficult position, in danger of losing. Adams and Kramnik had a hard game before they also drew. Short played a rare offshoot of the Marshall Attack against Nakamura which backfired, while Carlsen outplayed Howell in a simplified middlegame and won. Full report with pictures.
12/12/2010 – The fourth round showed a bit of luck for Anand. He benefited from a nasty oversight by Short, who blundered thinking he was going for the brilliancy prize. With this, Anand joined McShane in the leadership, who drew his game after Adams missed a cute equalizing trick. Kramnik outplayed Howell and also won, while Carlsen eventually outplayed Nakamura in a Dutch. Big illustrated report.
11/11/2010 – Last week John Nunn showed us four of the problems that had been given to the participants of this competition that was held on October 19th and 20th in Hersonissos, Crete. They were not easy (it was, after all, a world championship!) and John describes how he went about solving them. And he presents another stunning selection of astronomical pictures. All highly instructive.
9/13/2010 – Rook endings occur very frequently, so John Nunn’s latest work, Chess Endings Vol. 2, is particularly useful for the tournament player. Nunn is ideally qualified as an author owing to his vast experience in the field, as Dr Karsten Müller explains in his review. We use it to return to the subject of astronomy and explain how the Orion Nebula made it to the cover of a chess book.
9/6/2010 – One of the most ardent users of Global Rent-a-Scope, a network of
remotely operated astronomical telescopes, is chess grandmaster Dr John Nunn.
On August 8th a live interview on AFM chat was planned – but had to be
postponed due to illness. You can listen in tonight at 18:00 UTC/GMT. Visitor
participation is welcome and you have a chance to win telescope time.
6/14/2010 – Regular readers of the ChessBase news page know that since his retirement from over-the-board chess John Nunn has developed an increasing interest in astronomy. Other players like Viswanathan Anand have also taken it up as a serious hobby. During the World Championship in Sofia Christian Sasse gave both John and Vishy time on his remote telescopes. John Nunn reports.
4/4/2010 – On the first day of this month our readers expect us to produce a fake news report. We published three stories on April 1st, one about the Large Hadron Collider and the concern it has raised in some grandmasters; the possible exhumation of Fischer's remains; and the discovery that Magnus Carlsen was the second cousin of Hollywood actor Matt Damon. Did you guess right?
Anyone who seriously deals with openings cannot avoid the opening encyclopaedia. Whether beginner or grandmaster. The Opening Encyclopaedia is by far the most comprehensive chess theory work: over 1,463(!) theory articles offer a huge fund of ideas!
€149.90
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