One of the greatest advantages of avoiding news is that it also helps avoid politics. Needless to say a keen political interest is a horrendous waste of time and energy that could more profitably be devoted to the endgame. Plus it’s very easy to antagonise people if you’re at all political and as a result [...]

Right now Fabiano Caruana is half a point out of first at the Reykjavik Open, having drawn his fifth round game with Gawain Jones, but even so he retains his status as #6 on the Live Chess Ratings with a rating of 2771.1, earned after his 4-0 start. (Ivans Cheparinov and Sokolov are 5-0.) I don't know about all of you, but I didn't see this coming: #6! All I can say, once again, is what I've been...

No "Quick Ruy" this week, but it doesn't mean openings are off the table. My ChessVideos show for this week features offers a look at two fascinating and very early deviations. The first emerged from an en passant remark by Simon Williams in his round 3 commentary to the Reykjavik Open, in which he mentioned the idea of meeting his opponent's Blumenfeld Gambit (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5)...

UT Dallas Grandmaster Invitational will be one of the top GM closed tournaments in the world for the month of March. It will be a Scheveningen clash between the Home team of University of Texas Dallas and a Visiting Grandmasters team. For UT Dallas on the chess board will play GM Valentin Yotov (Bulgaria, 2560), [...]

Video by Vijay Kumar

Δείτε τους νικητές των Ατομικών Σχολικών Πρωταθλημάτων Αττικής και τους προκριμένους στα Πανελλήνια Ατομικά Σχολικά Πρωταθλήματα στον παρακάτω σύνδεσμο http://www.essnachess.gr/files/sxolika/sxoliko12/atom_res.htm

The 6th International Chess Tournament, dedicated to the memory of Georgy Agzamov, the first grandmaster of Uzbekistan, is taking place from 5th to 15th in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The general management organization of the competition is carried out by the Chess Federation of Uzbekistan, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Uzbekistan. The [...]

GM Daniel Fridman won his last round game and finished with 7,5/9 points in the 2012 German Chess Championship to claim sole first place in the competition. With this title Daniel Fridman repeats his success from 2008 and adds to the recent good performances at Vladimir Bagirov Memorial and the European Team Chess Championship More [...]

By Vijay Kumar

Akiba Rubinstein (12/12/1882 – 15/3/1961)Την πανέμορφη και διάσημη παρτίδα μεταξύ του Πολωνού Gersh Rotlewi (λευκός) και του Πολωνού Akiba Rubinstein (μαύρος) θα παρακολουθήσουμε σήμερα. Η παρτίδα αυτή που μπορεί να χαρακτηρισθεί ως η "Αθάνατη...

The second edition of CEWN is now on the market, with yet another 25 pages of great chess material from this week. It includes the top game from the recent Bundesliga, a deeply strategical analysis of Cappelle La Grande best game, a surprizing show in the Austrian league, and an instructive rapid game of 2700+ [...]

Edinburgh won the 2012 British Universities Chess Association Championship, winning the title for the first time since 1980, and for only the second time ever.

Μας έχει ήδη λείψει το Amber Tournament, δηλαδή το τουρνουάγρήγορου και τυφλού σκακιού, στο οποίο έπαιζαν οι κορυφαίοι παίχτες του κόσμου.Κάτι ανάλογο διοργανώθηκε στην Ινδία από κορυφαίες γυναίκες σκακίστριες με σκοπόνα...

Η ινδή διεθνής μετρ Σάτσντεβ Τάνια, που εκτός από επαγγελματίας σκακίστρια φωτογραφίζεται συχνά σαν μοντέλο για κοινωνικούς σκοπούς, εικονίζεται εδώ σε στιγμές συγκέντρωσης.   Κορυφαίες σκακίστριες της μεγάλης...

I couldn’t help notice this Daily Mail article which suggest that the new dress code will make chess ‘less sexy than ever’. I guess I’d be wasting my time trying to explain that this isn’t really what the game is about. And whilst I’m on the subject it isn’t about the kind of adrenaline rush one [...]