IM Malcolm Pein demonstrates Vladimir Kramnik's draw with black against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from his win in the Unive Crown Group in the Netherlands.

IM Malcolm Pein demonstrates Vladimir Kramnik's draw with black against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from his win in the Unive Crown Group in the Netherlands.

Το email βρέθηκε χτες στα γραμματοκιβώτια πολλών παραληπτών, σε πολλές γλώσσες, ακόμα και στα ελληνικά. Το στέλνει ο Γερμανός Lothar Hirneise που είναι ο  πρόεδρος της νέας «Σκακιστικής Οργάνωσης Ερασιτεχνών» – ACO (προφανώς...

I was too exhausted to update after my round seven game. Black against Tal Baron, another young IM who has a rating above 2500. I expected him to play 1.e4 but he surprised me with 1.d4 when I decided to repeat the Dutch. He played the 2.Nc3 sideline but didn’t play the most critical move [...]

The Eurocup was held in a pleasant venue in Rogaška Slatina, Slovenia, with several hotels conveniently near the playing hall. The food was also well above average for this event. Unfortunately the event ended in disappointment for my OSG Baden-Baden team. After winning our first five matches and sharing the lead before the last round [...]

The rating lists used for the World Cup qualification were July 2010 and January 2011, so establishing whether or not one was qualified should be simple. However despite several requests for information FIDE treated this data as if it were nuclear arms codes and the players by rating and reserves were only confirmed on June [...]

KAPPA-53 TOURNAMENT                         Round 7 on 2011/10/31 at 18:00                           Bo. SNo. Name Pts Res. Pts Name SNo. 1 1 Kostouros Alexandros 5   4 Arben Gjergaj 18 2 5 Vazelakis Dimitrios [...]

KAPPA-53 TOURNAMENT                           Rank after round 6                           Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED Club Pts Fide 1 1 Kostouros Alexandros 2113 GRE PANELLINIOS G.S 5 18½ 2 5 Vazelakis Dimitrios 1932 [...]

KAPPA-53 TOURNAMENT                           Round 6 on 2011/10/24 at 18:00                           Bo. SNo. Name Pts Res. Pts Name SNo. 1 2 Kesoglou Konstantinos 3½ ½  -  ½ 4½ Kostouros Alexandros 1 2 [...]

As someone kindly pointed out to me on Facebook the best example of Boden’s mate is probably the Peruvian Immortal, a game won by Esteban Canal against an unnamed opponent. It’s nicer because White first makes a double rook sacrifice with 11.axb4!!. I’m enjoying going through a lot of short games right now with my [...]

Μια σκακιέρα στην ταινία «Δυο ξένοι στην ίδια πόλη» του Χοσέ Τζοβανί (Deux hommes dans la ville, 1973) με δυο τέρατα του γαλλικού κινηματογράφου.  Ένας ηλικιωμένος άνθρωπος του νόμου (ο Ζαν Γκαμπέν σε μια από τις καλύτερές του...

Malcolm Pein reports on the conclusion of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Nalchik which was dominated by Zhao Xue.

Malcolm Pein reports on the conclusion of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Nalchik which was dominated by Zhao Xue.

Here. (HT: Brian Karen)

Here. (HT: Hylen)