The world's #1 and #2 players increased their rating edge over their closest competitors by starting the tournament with wins. Magnus Carlsen used Ulf Andersson's old anti-Hedgehog line to obtain a slight but persistent edge, and when Vugar Gashimov got mistakenly excited about his own tactical possibilities Carlsen won material and converted the winning opposite-colored bishop ending. Levon...

Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian and Anish Giri lead after the first round of the 74th Tata Steel tournament. Carlsen took a minute advantage from the opening and turned it into a winning bind after Vugar Gashimov went active in pursuit of a mating net that wasn't there. Aronian's pawn sacrifice led to a long term initiative against Sergey Karjakin which he turned into a winning advantage around...

IM Malcolm Pein looks forward to the 74th Tata Steel Chess Tournament which starts on 14th January 2012. Matthew Sadler is the only English player competing in the C-Group.

1)Υπενθυμίζεται στα σωματεία το άρθρο 5.3 της Γενικής Προκήρυξης των Ομαδικών Πρωταθλημάτων Κατηγοριών ΕΣΣΝΑ 5.3.Το εντός έδρας σωματείο έχει την υποχρέωση να ενημερώνει την ΤΕΔ-ΕΣΣΝΑ (e-mail: tedessna@yahoo.gr Τηλ: 6944914867 Σαλταμάρα...

Την  Κυριακή 15 Ιανουαρίου 2012, αρχίζει το πρωτάθλημα σκάκι για την Κεντρική Ελλάδα, της Ένωσης Σκακιστικών Σωματείων Κεντρικής Ελλάδας   - Ε.Σ.Σ.Κ.Ε.Οι αγώνες του   Ά γύρου  έχουν ως εξής :Σ.Ο.ΒΟΡ.ΕΥΒΟΙΑΣ   - Σ.Ο.ΛΑΜΙΑΣ...

ΕΝΩΣΗ ΣΚΑΚΙΣΤΙΚΩΝ ΣΩΜΑΤΕΙΩΝ ΚΕΝΤΡΙΚΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΑΣΜ. ΜΠΟΤΣΑΡΗ & ΔΡΟΣΟΠΟΥΛΟΥ ΛΑΜΙΑ Αρ. πρωτ:   93 / 5-01-2012 « 3ο ΟΜΑΔΙΚΟ ΠΡΩΤΑΘΛΗΜΑ ΚΕΝΤΡΙΚΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΑΣ 2012 »ΠΡΟΚΗΡΥΞΗ ΑΓΩΝΩΝΗ ΕΣΣΚΕ, προκηρύσσει το 3Ο  Ομαδικό Πρωτάθλημα για το...

Ολοκληρώθηκαν τα Πανελλήνια Νεανικά Πρωταθλήματα Νέων Ανδρών, Νέων Γυναικών, Εφήβων, Νεανίδων που διεξήχθησαν με επιτυχία στο Πολιτιστικό Κέντρο του Δήμου Νίκαιας-Αγ. Ι. Ρέντη στο Ρέντη, από 3 μέχρι 9 Ιανουαρίου 2012...

This interview with Jan Timman is something I found rather fascinating as he made a number of very thoughtful observations. One that I’d like to focus on here is the idea that players are becoming worse at the endgame because of the rise of faster time limits.  I mean, it’s also clear that the ending is being [...]

You can find the pairings for all the rounds of all three groups here, but I'll stick here to the round 1 pairings for Group A: Navara - Topalov (sportsmanship vs. gamesmanship?) Gelfand - Giri (the world championship contender vs. the winner of Reggio Emilia) Radjabov - Caruana Karjakin - Aronian Nakamura - Ivanchuk (a chance for Nakamura to gain revenge) Carlsen - Gashimov (can Carlsen...

An OBE is rarely awarded for services to chess, but there was one such award in the latest New Year's Honours list. Most readers will not know Brian Callaghan, but he is the founder and the driving force behind the Gibraltar Chess Festival, which will shortly celebrate its 10th anniversary. The congress attracts several hundred players from over 40 countries and the Caleta Hotel, a...

The 74th Tata Steel tournament starts on Saturday 14th January 2012 (Round 1 13:30 local time 12:30 GMT). Defending champion Hikaru Nakamura starts with white against the mercurial Vassily Ivanchuk. Elo favourite Magnus Carlsen against Vugar Gashimov. Others Navara-Topalov, Gelfand-Giri, Radjabov-Caruana, Karjakin-Aronian, Kamsky-van Wely. There is plenty to look forward to even in the first...

Hannes Langrock, The Modern Morra Gambit: A Dynamic Weapon Against the Sicilian, 2nd edition (Russell Enterprises, 2011). 320 pp. $29.95. Many years ago, the Smith-Morra Gambit (1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3, henceforth SMG) was my preferred way to meet the Sicilian Defense, and while I'm not sure I ever completely believed in it it was generally fun to play and I scored extremely well with it. I only...

The great Akiba Rubinstein (1882-1961) was perhaps the strongest player never to have a chance to play for the world championship, and a giant of early 20th century. In addition to his great practical strength in the middlegame, his openings were remarkably modern while in the endgame he had few if any peers. He was most famous for his rook endings, but he won some classic pawn endings as well...

ChessVibes' series of pre-Wijk aan Zee interviews concludes with a chat with former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov. He seems surprisingly mellow - almost a little too mellow and unambitious. Maybe he's just trying to stay under the radar; we'll see, starting tomorrow, when Wijk aan Zee gets underway!

Δείτε τους επιτυχόντες του Σεμιναρίου Διαιτησίας στο Ρέντη (6-8 Ιανουαρίου 2012):