Unfortunately The Chess Improver has been the victim of a spam infusion attack so I’m going offline for a few days whilst I sort it out.

The 5th and 6th edition of the Chess Evolution Weekly Newsletter are now available. They contain over 50 pages of the best games analysis from the European Individual Chess Championship 2012, a brand new puzzle section, the latest opening novelties, endgame studies, game classics analysis of Alekine and Petrosian – all this and more for [...]

The Russian Team Chess Championship 2012 takes place 8-16 April. Multiple strong players will join their respective teams for the title race in Russia, among the top participants are Karjakin, Vitiugiv, Jakovenko, Malakhov, Caruana, Morozevich Svidler, Ivanchuk, Ponomariov, Potkin, Shirov, Kosteniuk, Gunina, Pogonina, Eljanov, Moiseenko, Savchenko, Anish Giri, etc. Games will be live here daily...

Δεν θα πραγματοποιηθεί σήμερα Σάββατο7 Απριλίου το μάθημα σκάκι στην Ηγουμενίτσα. Θα επιστρέψουμε στις σκακιστικές αίθουσεςτο Σάββατο 21 Απριλίου. Καλό Πάσχα και καλή ανάσταση!

Exotic openings tend to be quite popular at club level as players try to ‘avoid theory’. But this can come at a heavy price, they do little to help improve a player’s pattern recognition and can create weaknesses. When playing against such openings I suggest a simple and economical approach, rather than trying to refute [...]

I guess I’m not the only one who gets tired of these comparisons, though here’s one that had me rolling on the floor: There are probably more similarities between chess and individual games such as tennis, but there too there aren’t many. Of course it is gratifying that football commentators like to try and compare [...]

Πέμπτη 26 Απριλίου, ώρα 8μ.μ., στο βιβλιοπωλείο Free Thinking Zone (Σκουφά 64 και Γριβαίων, τηλ.3617461)Σκάκι & Τέχνη.Ο διεθνής μαιτρ, προνονητής και συγγραφέας Ηλίας Κουρκουνάκης συνομιλεί με τον Ίκαρο Μπαμπασάκη για τις ωραίες...

Η Αργεντινή είναι μια χώρα με σπουδαία σκακιστική παράδοση. Εδώ, παιδιά του δρόμου ινδιάνικης καταγωγής που πουλούν σουβενίρ και χαλιά για τους τουρίστες στην πόλη Πουρκαμάρκα παίζουν μια παρτίδα σκάκι περιμένοντας...

The 39th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez de La Roda 2012 is taking place from 4th to 8th April at the La Caja Blanca in La Roda, Albacete, Spain. The 9-round Swiss open is organized by the Club Ajedrez La Roda and managed by the tournament director Andres Martinez Cebrian. The fifth round saw the four [...]

After the good news about the 2012 London Chess Classic, I have to bring you bad news for the world of chess. The Linares tournament, known as the 'Wimbledon of Chess' has been cancelled for a second year.

After the good news about the 2012 London Chess Classic, I have to bring you bad news for the world of chess. The Linares tournament, known as the 'Wimbledon of Chess' has been cancelled for a second year.

Ανάμεσα στα Εξάρχεια και στο Κολωνάκι, στην οδό Σκουφά, το πρότυπο αυτό μαγαζί που άνοιξε τις πόρτες του τον Δεκέμβριο δεν είναι ένα απλό βιβλιοπωλείο αλλά ένα concept store. Το Free Thinking Zone δανείζεται τον τρόπο λειτουργίας των...

The 2012 Doeberl Cup, 50th in a row, is taking place from 4th to 9th April at the Hellenic Club of Canberra in Australia. The Olympus Room provides the main playing hall for the event. An $17,850 prize money pool is on offer. The event consists of five tournaments: - Premier Tournament to be played [...]

The European School Chess Championships 2012 will take place in the Conference Center of Athos Palace****, a member of the G Hotels Group in Kallithea, located on the Kassandra peninsula of Halkidiki. The G Hotels Group holds a dynamic presence for over thirty years within the hotel business, maintaining a leading role in the tourism [...]

Susan Polgar and the Knight Raiders team hit the mainstream media by winning the Chess Final Four a few days ago. Now they make headlines again with the move from TTU to Webster. The articles titled “bold move in the world of college chess” and “Legendary coach heads to another school and takes entire team” [...]