The last couple of Dortmunds have been a battle between Vladimir Kramnik and Ruslan Ponomariov, with the former world champion (full stop) defeating the erstwhile FIDE champion in 2009 and the reverse in 2010. This year the rivalry started in round 1, and Kramnik won with White to get the 2011 campaign off on the right foot. Kramnik came out of a 7...exd4 Classical King's Indian with an edge, and...

Nine-times winner Vladimir Kramnik defeated last year’s winner Ruslan Ponomariov in the first round of the Sparkassen Chess Festival in Dortmund, Germany. The other games, Meier-Le Quang Liem and Giri-Nakamura, ended in draws. Later more. General info The 39th Sparkassen Chess Meeting takes place July 21-31, 2011 in the City Theater of Dortmund, Germany. Like [...]

Thanks for all the inquiries about my health. I'm fine. The post-Bazna lull led into my vacation trip, which has largely turned into a non-vacation since the ^&@#!*% book still isn't finished. It's going to be amazing if they still let us publish it so late... I'm barely able to check the results of the World Teams and Biel, let alone look at the games or put up a post. Plus, the Movable Type...

Armenia edged past the hosts China to retain their lead on 8 points after five rounds (of 9) of the 8th World Teams in Ningbo. Hungary moved strongly into contention with a big win over Israel which took them into 3rd place a point behind the leaders, second placed Azerbaijan lost to Ukraine and the USA recovered well from a heavy loss the day before to thump India 3-1. Russia beat Egypt 3-1 to...

The prize fund is € 6,325 and € 1,200 is dedicated to the winner. Many players from the Obert Internacional Sant Marti 2011, which concludes today, continue the tour in Sitges.

Συγκαλείται έκτακτο Δ.Σ το Σάββατο 23 Ιουλίου 2011 στις 17:00μμ στον πολυχώρο Πολιτεία για να συζητηθούν θέματα σχετικά με την νέα χάραξη των Ενώσεων, την λειτουργία της επιτροπής ελέγχου των καταστατικών των νέων...

Former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzanov from Uzbekistan has sent an open letter to the World Chess Federation with quite a revolutionary idea: to abolish the draw in chess altogether. “This way the expectations of the crowd will never be deceived. There will always be a winner, there will always be blood. (…) It will [...]

Thanks to a 2.5-1.5 victory over host country China, Armenia retained the lead at the World Team Championship in Ningbo. Russia defeated Egypt 3-1 and the USA recovered by beating India with the same score. Hungary had a good day with a 3.5-0.5 win over Israel while Ukraine won 2.5-1.5 against Azerbaijan. The China vs [...]

The 2011 Chess World Cup pairings are announced by FIDE. The Khanty Mansiysk World Cup will have 128 players which will face each other in a knock out battle for the biggest prizes in chess in 2011 and a right to participate at the next Candidates tournament.

The Armenian team managed to preserve its lead with a narrow 2.5-1.5 victory over China (which had been in third). The key games were Movsesian - Wang Yue and Sargissian - Yu Yangyi. In the first, Wang Yue had excellent winning chances for most of the game. 29...Nf4 would have improved over 29...Qb6, and in the ending 36...a4 followed by ...Rb3 would have kept White scrambling to stay alive...

The ChessVibes editors are enjoying their summer holiday in various ways. While Peter and Robert played an open in Ikaria, Greece, and Merijn participated in the annual Wine tournament in Naujac sur Mer, France, I’m on parental leave in my home town, changing diapers and reading several new chess books whenever I don’t feel too [...]

Δωρεάν μίνι-σειρά σκακιστικών μαθημάτων“Γρήγορη επιτυχία στο σκάκι”Αυτή η σειρά μαθημάτων περιέχει μερικές ισχυρές πρακτικές συμβουλές. Θα σας βοηθήσουν να βρείτε τις καλύτερες κινήσεις και για να το κάνετε...

Our printers just delivered: Centre-Stage and Behind the Scenes by Yuri Averbakh. A publisher’s dream has come true: Yuri Averbakh, the quintessential insider of Soviet chess for over half a century, has written his personal memoir. After winning the USSR Championship in 1954 (ahead of Kortchnoi, Petrosian and Geller), Averbakh has been a journalist, an [...]

Aaron CoplandΤην σύνθεση "Fanfare For the Common Man" του αμερικανού συνθέτη Aaron Copland (14/11/1900 – 2/12/1990) θα ακούσουμε σήμερα. Το έργο γράφτηκε έπειτα από παραγγελία του μαέστρου της Συμφωνικής Ορχήστρας του Σινσιννάτι Eugene Goossens σαν μία...

Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2011 starts July 21st in Germany. It is a double round robin with GM Vladimir Kramnik, GM Hikaru Nakamura, GM Anish Giri, GM Ruslan Ponomariov, GM Le Quang Liem, and GM Georg Meier.