The 1st Goa International Open Grandmaster Chess Tournament was held from 13-20th October at Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium Bambolim in Taleigao, Goa, India. The event was organized by the Goa Chess Association under the aegis of All India Chess Federation. The total prize fund was 52,300 USD. The event consisted of three sections: - Grandmaster [...]

The 22nd Bavarian International Open Chess Championship is taking place from 27th October to 4th November in “Gut Kaltenbrunn” in Gmund, Germany. The event is organized by Tegernseer Tal Tourismus GmbH and the total prize fund is 16,300 EUR. The champion will be awarded with 3000 EUR. A total of 510 players from 34 federations [...]

Continuing last week’s story, in the first round my pupil had the black pieces against one of the stronger players in the event. The game was very typical for this level. Here’s what happened. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O While there’s nothing wrong with this, it’s just a developing … Continue reading "The First Round"

The world seems to be glued to their cellphones. Everywhere I go, I see people staring deeply into their smartphones as if their lives depended on it. Most of them are checking their social media profiles to make sure they got the “likes” they so well deserve for whatever comment they recently posted. Personally, I … Continue reading "Tactical Puzzles"

Ως ένδειξη φιλίας, οι συνθέτες Νίκος Περγιάλης και Εμμανουήλ Μανωλάς δημοσιεύουν ένα δυάρι ορθόδοξο πρόβλημα, που συνέθεσαν μαζί.Πρόβλημα-838FEN: 4S2R/3bb1p1/3PB1p1/2RK2k1/2PPP3/2pq2P1/Q6S/8#2, (12+7)Μανωλάς Εμμανουήλ και Νίκος...

One way of avoiding the need to study openings constantly is to play lines which simply lead to a typical middle game position. You wheel out your first 10-15 moves and get a position in which both sides have chances, plans and ideas, and the game cannot be decided by a single sharp move. I … Continue reading "Middle Game Openings"

The ​2018 SPICE Cup Chess Open is taking place from 23-28th October at the Clayton Plaza Hotel in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA. The total prize fund is 16,550 USD and the event is sponsored by Webster University and the Susan Polgar Foundation. The tournament format is 9-round Swiss with the time control G/90 + 30 [...]

“A dream becomes a goal when action is taken toward its achievement” Bo Bennett (businessman) The Closed Sicilian is not as popular as it used to be. One of the reasons could be the arising middle game positions offer only a slight advantage at best; most of the times they just offer equal play for … Continue reading "Need Sure Points? Sicilian Defence Edition, Closed Variation"

The FIDE Women’s World Championship will be held in Khanty-Mansiysk on November 2-23, 2018. 64 chess players from 28 countries will determine the new world champion according to the knock-out system. The top seed is the incumbent world champion Ju Wenjun (2561, China). Former world champions Alexandra Kosteniuk (2551, Russia), Mariya Muzychuk (2533, Ukraine), Tan [...]

Some times players can struggle against particular openings which they then need to study in order to improve. This is easy enough to detect, you just keep track of your results in particular openings. For example, Bobby Fischer once struggled against the Winawer Variation of the French Defence as shown by this game against Wolfgang … Continue reading "Problem Openings"

The 44th Guernsey International Chess Festival will be held on 21-27 October 2018 at the Peninsula Hotel, Guernsey. The Open Tournament – Sponsored by Intertrust Guernsey A seven round, FIDE rated, Swiss competition open to all players Players with low ratings will be encouraged by the organisers to enter the Holiday tournament Time limit: 40 [...]

The “Z” chess club, Lithuanian Army Sport Club and Lithuanian Army officers club are organizing the “Max Zavanelli Memorial” tournament from 22-28th October in Vilnius, Lithuania. The tournament consists of the following sections: Open A – players with FIDE rating above 2100 FIDE rated, 9 rounds Open B – players with FIDE rating 1601-2100 FIDE [...]

One of my private pupils came round to show me the games he’d played in a qualification tournament for the London U10 Championships. He needed to win his last round game with the black pieces to score 3½/6 and achieve his aim of qualifying for the London U10 Minor. Here’s how the game went. 1. … Continue reading "Qualification"

Live games with analysis

Live games with analysis