Every week we present you an endgame study selected by IM Yochanan Afek: player, trainer, endgame study composer and writer. A week later the solution is published. Good luck solving! –> IM Yochanan Afek’s Official Website M. Campioli 2010 White to play and win Next week the solution. Solution last week V. Kovalenko 2009 new [...]

The 112th US Open is reaching the final stages in Orlando. It takes place 30th July - 7th August 2011. With the many schedules it is impossible until the very latest stages to find out who is leading or even entered. Nakamura, probably wanting to get some frustration out of his system from Dortmund rocked up on Thursday and is in the joint lead on 6/7 with two rounds to go. Now the merged...

The 2011 Summer Universiade is scheduled to take place from 13th to 22nd August in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. 22 sports will be contested with a total of 306 events. For the first time in the history of the FISU, Universiade is including chess as a sport.

The 20th Kavala Open Chess Tournament took place from 30th July to 6th August in Kavala, Greece. One of the strongest events of the Greek Chess Summer is organized by the Kavala Chess Club, East Macedonia and Thrace Chess Union and Greek Chess Federation.

Malcolm Pein looks at Round 10 of the British and in particular Nick Perts draw against Michael Adams.

Mark Dvoretsky, Tragicomedy in the Endgame: Instructive Mistakes of the Masters (Russell Enterprises 2011). 2644 pp. $29.95. Reviewed by Dennis Monokroussos. Those who have Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual (DEM) will probably recall that many sections conclude with a "tragicomedy" or two, examples where the players - often very strong ones - have gone terribly awry, usually in cases where they should...

The match (and playoff) was shorter and the stakes a little lower, but as in 1997 Michael Adams pulled out a victory in "extra time" against Nigel Short to win the 2011 British Championship. The first game of their two-game rapid playoff was a draw, and in game two Adams parlayed the white pieces into a win. Short essayed the semi-dodgy Bronstein-Larsen variation of the Caro-Kann and achieved a...

The 1st International Tournament Isthmia 2011 is set to take place from 18th to 25th August at the "Alkyon" Hotel in Vrachati, Korinthia, Greece. The tournament will be 9-rounds Swiss event, divided in two rating groups. The organizers are Pnevmatiki Stegi Peristeriou, Korinthia Chess Academy "Argonaftis", Prefecture of Peloponnisos and Municipality of Velo Vocha.

In the girls section, Russian Girya Olga maintained her lead with 5.0 points after putting it across top seed Woman Grandmaster Paikidze Nazi of Georgia. Overnight leader, Italian International Master Axel Rombaldoni kept a clean slate, winning his fifth game in a row. In the top board game, Rombaldoni beat third seed Grandmaster Ivan Salgado Lopez from Spain.

The 9 player field for the London Chess Classic will include all the players rated over 2800 in the World. It was already known that world number one Magnus Carlsen, world champion Viswanathan Anand and new invitee Levon Aronian would play. Vladimir Kramnik also has the potential to cross that barrier after closing in on the mark with his performance in Dortmund. Now the August issue of CHESS...

The 98th Championships of the British Isles were organised by the English Chess Federation from 24th July to 6th August at the International Sports Centre, Sheaf Street, Sheffield. As many as 24 various events, including Senior, Junior and Sections Championships, Major, Weekend and Rapid Opens, were held in that time frame.

Ωραία φωτογραφία ε;;; Σας δίνω ιδέες για σήμερα και αύριο… :-)Μην ξεχνάτε ότι μπορείτε να δείτε πολύ περισσότερες φωτογραφίες πατώντας στις καρτέλες - κεφαλίδες στο επάνω μέρος, με την ονομασία φωτογραφίες ή απλά...

There had been some discussion on this blog about Sergey Karjakin's non-participation in the Grand Slam Finals; understandably, as he had been invited earlier and it would seem that this is a tournament offer no one could confuse. As it turns out, not only Karjakin but Vladimir Kramnik took a pass on it too. Here's who will be playing: Viswanathan Anand, Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Vassily...

Rostov FIDE Women's Grand Prix Round 4. Hou Yifan's lead stands at a point and a half after just four rounds of play as she defeated Anna Muzychuk in a Ruy Lopez Marshall. Kateryna Lahno was the only other winner and she went second with a win against Nadezhda Kosintseva in the final game to finish. Humpy Koneru was held to a draw by Alisa Galliamova. Rest day Saturday.