The Kings lead the Queens 20-10 going into the rest day after a 4.5-0.5 win in the Chess960 and 3.5-1.5 in the Rapid on day 3. Hikaru Nakamura completed a convincing 2-0 win against Alexandra Kosteniuk. Martha Fierro was the only winner beating Kevin Cao in the rapid recovering from a loss in the 960. Read Aviv Friedman's official report below.

Peter Svidler reached the final of the World Cup for the first time after defeating Ruslan Ponomariov with black in game 2 of their match. Svidler played a side-line of the Gruenfeld he didn't think quite sound but presumably thought would set Ponomariov, who is primarily a 1.e4 player, the greatest problems. Although he didn't like his position initially once Svidler castled queen-side and gave...

Peter Svidler reached the final of the World Cup for the first time after defeating Ruslan Ponomariov with black in game 2 of their match. Svidler played a side-line of the Gruenfeld he didn't think quite sound but presumably thought would set Ponomariov, who plays 1.e4, 1.Nf3, 1.c4 as well as 1.d4 the greatest problems if he chose this variation. Although he didn't like his position initially...

Aviv Friedman reports on the second day of the Kings vs Queens event in Saint Louis. Hikaru Nakamura's form continues to puzzle. Not only did he recently lose in the US Chess League (round 2) with Melikset Khachiyan but he blundered his entire position away for one move against Anna Zatonskih. His place in the top 10 in the world now seems an age ago and he seems to have no clue what to do to put...

Aviv Friedman reports on the second day of the Kings vs Queens event in Saint Louis. Hikaru Nakamura's form continues to puzzle. Not only did he recently lose in the US Chess League (round 2) with Melikset Khachiyan but he blundered his entire position away for one move against Anna Zatonskih. His place in the top 10 in the world now seems an age ago and he seems to have no clue what to do to put...

And then there were three...sort of. Only three players remain in the fight for first, but all four are still eligible for advancement to the Candidates. Indeed, while it would have been better for Ruslan Ponomariov to win today, guaranteeing a spot in the next set of Candidates matches, it's better for him that he lost today rather than tomorrow, as it gives him an extra day to rest and prepare...

Το "Σκακιστικό Καφενείο" έλαβε από την Σκακιστική Πολιτιστική Κίνηση Φυλής το ακόλουθο δελτίο τύπου. ===============================================================================ΔΕΛΤΙΟ ΤΥΠΟΥΆλλο ένα Νεανικό Πρωτάθλημα Δυτικής Αττικής (το 7ο κατά σειρά)...

Malcolm Pein looks at Vassily Ivanchuk's win against Teimour Radjabov where they shared two wins in the standard time rate games.

Malcolm Pein looks at Vassily Ivanchuk's win against Teimour Radjabov where they shared two wins in the standard time rate games.

Reviving ancient gambits is a way of setting opponents unexpected problems which can be quite unpleasant if they’re used to quiet positional games. Alexander Alekhine was really the first to do this in the ‘modern’ era but then there were very few great players who used this tactic until Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer did [...]

Πνευματικά παιχνίδια, όπως το σκάκι, μειώνουν στους ηλικιωμένους την πιθανότητα να προσβληθούν από τη νόσο Aλτσχάιμερ ή άλλες μορφές άνοιας, σύμφωνα με στοιχεία πολλών ερευνών. «Το σκάκι δεν υπόσχεται κάποια μαγική...

Both Ruslan Ponomariov and Vassily Ivanchuk will be pleased to have obtained easy draws with black in the first games of their two game semi-finals of the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. Ponomariov improved with 12...c6 against a Svidler game in the Berlin and equalised quickly. Alexander Grischuk looked like he might get something against Vassily Ivanchuk's French but he had to be very precise and...

Both Ruslan Ponomariov and Vassily Ivanchuk will be pleased to have obtained easy draws with black in the first games of their two game semi-finals of the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. Ponomariov improved with 12...c6 against a Svidler game in the Berlin and equalised quickly. Alexander Grischuk looked like he might get something against Vassily Ivanchuk's French but he had to be very precise and...

England’s GM Michael Adams won the 1st Metropolitan International chess tournament on Sunday in Los Angeles, finishing clear first a full point ahead of the field. This video recap features interviews with GM Adams, GM Mesgen Amanov, GM Loek van Wely, GM Varuzhan Akobian, IM Jack Peters, and IM Andranik Matikozyan. The tournament was organized [...]

The Grandmasters clashed in Rounds 5-7 of the 1st Metropolitan International chess tournament in downtown Los Angeles. This video update features interviews with International Grandmaster Timur Gareev and International Master Danny Rensch.