Magnus Carlsen’s prediction of four draws and one long decisive game came true. While the leaders drew quickly, Fabiano Caruana’s win over his countryman Hikaru Nakamura allowed him to join the pack. There is now a five-way tie for first, an uncommon occurrence at highly contested top level events. Interestingly enough, none of the leaders [...]

For those who haven’t seen it this is worth watching. Although clearly scripted, it shows a lighter (and saner) side of Bobby Fischer. Nigel Davies

The fight for first place and the ticket to the Grand Chess Tour finals in London is getting tighter as now there is a four-way tie for first place. After Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Magnus Carlsen, and Levon Aronian drew their games, the door was wide open for Alexander Grischuk to enter the leaderboard. The Russian Grandmaster [...]

The Superfinals of 71st Russian men’s championship and 68th Russian women’s championship will take place from 24th August till 6th September 2018 in Satka, Chelyabinsk Oblast. The venue is Magnezit Palace of Culture. The organizers are the Russian Chess Federation, Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation, Government of Chelyabinsk Oblast, and Magnezit Group. The competition...

“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer” Bruce Lee This time we are going to do something different: Have a look at the position and replay the moves once Identify as many mistakes and good moves you can during a 1 minute (watch … Continue reading "“What Say You?” The 1 Minute Challenge (16)"

The 2018 Spanish Championship is a 9-round Swiss tournament taking place from 20-28 August in Linares, Spain. The winner receives €3,000 and the title of Spanish Champion, while the highest-scoring female player becomes the Spanish Women’s Champion. The tournament also serves as a qualifier for representing Spain in the European Team Championships. Players receive 90 [...]

Zonal 3.5 Chess Championship was held in Daqing from 13 to 20 August. It was 11 rounds Swiss and 43 players took part in the tournament. There was a big drama until the last game. Before the last round two players were leading with 7 points. The winner is Lu Shanglei who won his game [...]

Chess Association of “Tehran” province under the auspices of I.R. Iran Chess Federation has the honor to invite all players of national federations to participate in the 3rd Paytakht Cup International Chess Festival which will be held in Tehran, Iran, from the 1st september (arrival) till the 9th of september (departure)2018. Tournament will be held [...]

At the end of a marathon 88-move game, Magnus Carlsen emerged as the only victor of the round, joining Mamedyarov and Aronian in a tie for first place. Four out of the five games ended in draws within the first three hours of the day, but the World Champion was determined to put his white [...]

The European Youth Championship is a 9-round Swiss tournament taking place from 20-29 August 2018 in Riga, Latvia. Players compete in six age groups from U8 to U18, with Open and Girls sections. Players receive 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second [...]

Recently my Dad and I have been working on a different aspect of chess in which the players fight for the initiative. I managed to play a game in this style on Saturday when my opponent sacrificed a piece with 20…Nxe5 but I recaptured the initiative a few moves later with 24.Bxd5. It was fun … Continue reading "Taking Back The Initiative"

Day one of the 2018 Sinquefield Cup produced two early leaders: Levon Aronian and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. While Aronian is no stranger to success in Saint Louis, having won the Sinquefield Cup in 2015 and the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz in 2017, Mamedyarov is making his debut as an official player in the Grand Chess [...]

38th Conca della Presolana is held from 18 to 26 August in Bratto, Italy. The tournament is divided in 5 sections. In Masters group 49 players are taking part, among them 11 GMs. MASTER: for players with FIDE rating or Italian Elo rating equal to or more than 2000; OPEN “A”: for players with FIDE [...]

It was good to read some positive chess news in the national press this week. 9-year-old Shreyas Royal, considered one of the most promising young players in the country for a generation, can remain in the UK. His father, Jitendra Singh, had been told he and his family had to leave the country when his … Continue reading "Royalty"

The 54th Akiba Rubinstein Memorial is taking place in Polanica Zdrój, Poland from 18-26 August 2018. The 9-round Swiss open is split into six sections, with the A group for players rated 1800 and above. The time control is 90 minutes for 40 moves then 30 minutes to the end of the game, with a [...]