The 2011 SPICE Cup at the University of Texas Tech (named after Susan Polgar) has three all-play-alls and an open as well. The main A-Group is a strong 6 player 10 round double round robin with Le Quang Liem, Georg Meier, Sebastien Feller (a surprising choice, and last minute replacement for Alexander Onischuk who had a family emergency), Leinier Dominguez, Ray Robson and Yury Shulman.

The 2011 SPICE Cup at the University of Texas Tech (named after Susan Polgar) has three all-play-alls and an open as well. The main A-Group is a strong 6 player 10 round double round robin with Le Quang Liem, Georg Meier, Sebastien Feller (a surprising choice, and last minute replacement for Alexander Onischuk who had a family emergency), Leinier Dominguez, Ray Robson and Yury Shulman.

The issue of tiredness during games is one that’s well worth considering as it plays a major part in our games. The problem is that a player who is tired will naturally desire to save energy by not continuing to cudgel his or her brain. So it results in a diminishment of determination and sloppy [...]

The opening ceremony for the Unive Crown Group took place on Saturday 15th July 2011. Vladimir Kramnik is the top seed in an exciting group with Anish Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Judit Polgar. 6 Rounds. Round 1 Sunday 13:00 UK time (14:00 CET) pairings: Vachier-Lagrave vs. Polgar and Kramnik vs. Giri.

The opening ceremony for the Unive Crown Group took place on Saturday 15th July 2011. Vladimir Kramnik is the top seed in an exciting group with Anish Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Judit Polgar. 6 Rounds. Round 1 Sunday 13:00 UK time (14:00 CET) pairings: Vachier-Lagrave vs. Polgar and Kramnik vs. Giri.

The 3rd Women's Grand Prix of the 2011-12 series takes place in Nalchik, Russia, Sunday 9th - Sun 23rd Oct 2011. Nadezhda Kosintseva, Kateryna Lahno, Ju Wenjun, Tatiana Kosintseva, Antoaneta Stefanova, Viktorija Cmilyte, Alisa Galliamova, Zhao Xue, Zhu Chen, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Batkhuyag Munguntuul and Ekaterina Kovalevskaya. Zhao Xue started with 6/6 can she maintain the pace?

Our tour started at 11.30am and would finish roughly 12 hours later. It was a long day, but an amazing adventure. Our guide was Jon, who was very friendly and extremely knowledgeable about all things especially geology. He is also one of Iceland’s rescue guides (Good to know!). I had a lot of questions especially [...]

The chess calendar is as busy as ever, with a number of noteworthy events underway. 1. Saratov. The Governor's Cup is about 2/3 finished, and it's a one-man show starring Alexander Morozevich. After the draw with Alexei Shirov in round 6 he "bounced back" to defeat Evgeny Alekseev in round 7. His six points gives him a 3010 TPR, a two point lead over the field, and ninth place on the live rating...

Malcolm Pein reports on Magnus Carlsen's win in the 4th Final Masters in Bilbao. He looks at Carlsen's win in the second blitz play-off game and round 9 victory that allow in to catch Ivanchuk.

Malcolm Pein reports on Magnus Carlsen's win in the 4th Final Masters in Bilbao. He looks at Carlsen's win in the second blitz play-off game and round 9 victory that allow in to catch Ivanchuk.

Mark Dvoretsky, Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, 3rd Edition (Russell Enterprises 2011). 405 pp. $34.95. I can make this review really quick: if you don't have an earlier edition, buy this one; if you do, then don't. There's no fundamentally new material here, just some tidying up of the earlier analysis here and there (but where in particular, neither the author nor the publisher gives us any advance...

Στο Jesi της Ιταλίας έλαβα μέρος σε μερικούς διαγωνισμούς σύνθεσης, άλλοτε με επιτυχία κι άλλοτε χωρίς διάκριση. Θα ήθελα να σας παρουσιάσω αυτές τις συνθέσεις μου. Θα γίνουν δύο αναρτήσεις.Διαγωνισμός Quick Solving (τρεις...

(φωτ. Ο Τσιγκόριν σε σοβιετικό γραμματόσημο του 1958). Ξεκίνησε, στην Αγία Πετρούπολη, το ετήσιο φεστιβάλ που γίνεται στη μνήμη ενός από τα τέκνα της πόλης, του Μιχαήλ  Τσιγκόριν, του λαμπρού σκακιστή που είχε...

Before today I’d never heard the fascinating story of Robert Combe. He only learned the game when he was 15, never played very much, suffered from poor health and became a distinguished lawyer. But he won the 1946 British Championship ahead of a host of excellent players. Here’s his win against Hugh Alexander from the [...]

James Magner, M.D., Chess Juggler: Balancing Career, Family and Chess in the Modern World (Russell Enterprises 2011). 176 pp. $19.95.   This short book is half autobiography, half chess book. The autobiographical part focuses primarily on the non-chess aspects of Magner's life as a physician and family man; about this, I have nothing to say – I will restrict my comments to the chess...