Chess News

"In contrast to the middlegame and the endgame, where theory is objective and accepted by everyone, in the opening each chess player makes his choices in accordance with his emotions and his personal experience. No opening loses, no opening wins." World renown chess trainer GM Efstratios Grivas explains how you should build your repertoire in Part 3 of his lecture series.

All three top seeds entered the final round with 6.5/8 points. English GM Nigel Short smoothly outplayed his opponent, while GMs Jan Gustafsson (Germany) and Paco Vallejo (Spain) had to navigate through tricky endings. But with all three winning their games they ended on 7.5/9 in tie for first. Gustafsson was awarded the trophy on tiebreak.

Citing the need to help children develop their intellectual capacity, the Armenian government on Thursday decided that chess should to be taught as a separate subject at elementary school level across the country.

Last night GM Gawain Jones went to the first UK press preview screening of the new documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World, in Soho, London. This film will be in UK cinemas from July 15th, and Gawain, who lives in London, went on behalf of ChessVibes to do a review for us. Guess which other chess grandmaster he bumped into?

All the deepest plans or endgame technique are useless if you fall victim to a shot that leaves you in a lost position. Likewise, sometimes that superior play will only offer a single window of opportunity to deliver that final blow, so it is vital to be ready for it when it does. In this edition all the positions are from the 2011 Chinese Championship and the 1st Mangini Memorial.

This event is taking place from 11th to 17th April 2011 in the five star Dusit Thani Resort and Spa in Pattaya, Thailand. More than 200 players from 40 countries are participating, making it the biggest and strongest ever held in Thailand. The first prize is 100,000 Baht (€2300 or US $3300). After the first three round two top seeds, Paco Vallejo and Nigel Short, lead with 3.0/3.

In today's chess world it is not easy to find a coach who combines passion for the game with the ability to inspire children. A Chess Centre in Salihli, Turkey, is lucky enough to have a tutor who possesses the best qualities of a chess coach whilst being a strong player herself.

On Sunday, 18-year-old Ding Liren became Chinese Champion for the second time in his career, with an undefeated 9/11 score and a 2867 performance. Hou Yifan finished 5th, one place ahead of Wang Yue. In the women’s section 21-year-old Zhang Xiaowen was the strongest.

Anand played a 24-game simultaneous exhibition against the very best Uzbek juniors and women. The world champion achieved a creditable result, winning 16 games and drawing 6, but two of his opponents can now say that they have beaten the world champion.

... was Black's counterinsurance when he decided to heat up the central tension with the thrust 13...e6-e5 (diagram). Which continuation now leads to an advantageous opening of the position for White?
A) 14.cxd5
B) 14.dxe5
C) a third pawn move

"Do not rush," advises endgame specialist, GM Karsten Müller. "In opposite colored bishop endings the defender must be able to build the fortress." This was not done by young Anish Giri against the experienced Vladimir Kramnik. Dr Müller also analyses the Carlsen vs Anand rook ending, and shows us how sometimes study-like motifs occur in practical games.

Chess and cars aren't usually thought of together, except perhaps with the checkered flag, but this Kasparov event on 7 April may change that. First, face Kasparov in a simul or even in a one-on-one blitz game. Then explore one of the greatest sports car collections in the world at the Collier Automotive Museum in Naples, Florida, which is usually closed to the public.

Levon Aronian is the winner of the twentieth and final Amber Tournament. Following earlier wins in 2008 and 2009 this is the third time the Armenian GM claimed first prize. Aronian also won the blindfold competition. The rapid competition was won by Magnus Carlsen, who came second in the overall standings, with World Champion Vishy Anand in third place.

On Saturday the Disciplinary Committee of the French Chess Federation suspended GMs Sebastien Feller, Arnaud Hauchard and IM Cyril Marzolo, finding them “guilty of a violation of sporting ethics” for allegedly cheating during the Chess Olympiad 2010 in Khanty-Mansiysk. The three received suspensions, after evidence was presented.

In endgames an especially difficult decision always needs to be taken at the point when there is the opportunity to aim for a simplified position by a further exchange of pieces. This was the case for White in this position, namely whether he had a better chance of achieving a draw in the pawn ending after 52.Rxh3 or in the rook ending after 52.Ra1 Rxh5 53.Ra8. How would you evaluate the two endings and which choice would you have made?

After eight rounds Levon Aronian, who today defeated World Champion Vishy Anand 1½-½, remains in the lead. With three rounds to go Magnus Carlsen, who defeated Veselin Topalov by the same score, follows at half a point’s distance. In third place, Vishy Anand and Vasily Ivanchuk, are three points behind. Anish Giri won a nice game against Sergey Karjakin.

The Wijk aan Zee “B” and “C” groups have traditionally served to herald rising stars, such as Karjakin, Carlsen, and Anish Giri the last two years. This year seems unlikely to be an exception with McShane having a breakthrough period since the London Classic, and 14-year-old GM Nyzhnyk in the "C" event just behind Italian GM Daniele Vocaturo. Illustrated report with analysis by GM Karsten Mueller.

As promised we provide you with the solutions to our 2010 Christmas Puzzles. There were a very large number of entries, and our problem expert John Nunn has put a lot of work into explaining the solutions as lucidly as possible. This made it necessary to split the solutions into two parts, with the second due in a few days. For today here is the first part.

Viswanathan Anand applied systematic pressure on Jan Smeets until the Dutch GM blundered and gave the World Champion the sole tournament lead. Magnus Carlsen did pretty much the same to Erwin l'Ami, only to blunder the won position to a theoretical draw – which the amazingly determined Norwegian GM went on to win! Alexander Grischuk lost to Chinese GM Wang Hao.

... is always dangerous, particularly after having reached the 6th rank already. The second player was well aware of this when he went for 34...Be5 in this position, expecting a certain deflection move whereupon his queen is to stay in the e-file. What do you think? This...
A)... loses for Black;
B)... leads to an approximately balanced position;
C)... gets Black the advantage.

It is one of our most-quoted reports – a page dating back to 2002, which we upgraded periodically. Now it is time for a general overhaul. With the help of our readers we have collected the data of all prodigies who became grandmasters at the age of fifteen or younger. In addition we address the question: who were the strongest players in the different age categories?