Magnus Carlsen defeated an out of form Vassily Ivanchuk by continuing to set the Ukrainian problems into a double knight ending. Ivanchuk played very fast, which seems to be his habit when not at his best but looked like he should hold at various points before trading rooks and losing a pawn which allowed a nice tactical idea that took Carlsen to the win. Teimour Radjabov drew pretty comfortably...

Magnus Carlsen defeated Vassily Ivanchuk in an ending that should have probably been held comfortably by the Ukrainian (see brief notes below). Ivanchuk has been playing quite quickly during the tournament a sign he is out form. Carlsen is great at getting the very most out of such positions and eventually he was rewarded with a win and a nice finish. Hikaru Nakamura called his opening choice...

Μερικές παρτίδες που επέλεξε και σχολίασε ο Γίτσης Χρήστος. [pgn initialHalfmove=2 autoplayMode=none][Event "Central Greece Open"][Site "Lamia GRE"][Date "2011.06.12"][Round "3.1"][White "Krommydas, Vassilis"][Black "Gitsis, Christos"][Result "0-1"][WhiteElo "1750"][BlackElo "2032"][ECO "A21"]1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 a5 4.Qb3?! Nc6 5.Nxb4 axb4 =+...

Magnus Carlsen is the sole leader again at the Kings’ Tournament in Medias, Romania. On Saturday the Norwegian defeated Vassily Ivanchuk, who in the ending played surprisingly fast and lost control. Sergey Karjakin faced another 3…f5 Ruy Lopez in which Teimour Radjabov had done his homework very well. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu had a nice advantage against [...]

IM Malcolm Pein reports on the highly enjoyable 5th round of the Kings Tournament in Medias.

Two months ago there was heated discussion regarding the scoring system used at this year’s European Individual Chess Championship. During the ECU Extraordinary General Assembly in Aix-les-Bains a new proposal was suggested by the ECU Board, to set the number of wins as the main additional criteria in case of a tie. Polish GM Bartlomiej [...]

Η Ελληνική Σκακιστική Ομοσπονδία (Ε.Σ.Ο.) προκηρύσσει τον 10ο Πανελλήνιο Διαγωνισμό Λύσης Προβλημάτων, ο οποίος θα πραγματοποιηθεί στην αίθουσα των σκακιστικών σωματείων Σ.Ο. Αμπελοκήπων και Σ.Ο. «Θωμάς Γεωργίου»...

Δεν πρόκειται για τη νομιμοποίηση του ουίσκι. Ούτε βρεθήκαμε πίσω στην εποχή της ποτοαπογόρευσης.  Το «Legalizing» αναφέρεται στην γνωστή (και εντυπωσιακή για τους αρχαρίους) ιδέα του Γάλλου Legal: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Bg4 4.Bc4 g6? 5.Nxe5 Bxd1...

Με αγώνες για παιδιά αρχίζει φέτος ο «Ίκαρος» Πρωτάθλημα Παίδων-Κορασίδων Ικαρίας θα οργανωθεί στον Άγιο Κήρυκο από 6 μέχρι και 8 Ιουλίου, δηλαδή το τριήμερο πριν από την έναρξη του Ανοιχτού Διεθνούς Πρωταθλήματος...

Τα ενώνει η στρατηγική, τα χωρίζει η αδρεναλίνη. Δύο αθλήµατα στη µορφή του ενός: το σκάκι και το µποξ. Ενώθηκαν για πρώτη φορά το 2003 και έκτοτε η «σκακιστική πυγµαχία» (chess boxing) απασχολεί την εναλλακτική αθλητική...

(φωτ: το ενετικό λιμάνι του Ρεθύμνου). Δυο διεθνή τουρνουά με ανοιχτή συμμετοχή θα διεξαχθούν στην Κρήτη τον Ιούλιο: Το 3ο Διεθνές Τουρνουά Ρεθύμνου 11-18 Ιουλίου www.rethymnochess.gr και το 4ο Διεθνές Τουρνουά Παλαιόχωρας 20-27...

Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu played an interesting Schliemann Defence as black against Sergey Karjakin. In spite of being two pawns down and the queens coming off Nisipeanu had a way to equality (31...Re4) but after missing it in time pressure he got a difficult (but probably holdable) ending but he didn't manage to save it. Teimour Radjabov was slightly worse as white against Vassily Ivanchuk but he...

Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu played an interesting Schliemann Defence as black against Sergey Karjakin. In spite of being two pawns down and the queens coming off Nisipeanu had a way to equality (31...Re4) but after missing it in time pressure he got a difficult (but probably holdable) ending but he didn't manage to save it. Teimour Radjabov was slightly worse as white against Vassily Ivanchuk but he...

After the rest day, on Friday the King’s Tournament in Medias, Romania resumed. The fight between Nakamura and Carlsen, an uneventful Breyer Ruy Lopez, ended in a move repetition at move 34. Radjabov-Ivanchuk was a Semi-Tarrasch that was always about equal. Nisipeanu tried the 3…f5 Ruy Lopez against Karjakin, who came up with an interesting [...]

The second cycle of the King's Tournament started today, with a colors-reversed rematch of round 1. In all three games, the player with the white pieces did half a point better than he did the first time around. Today, Nakamura drew with White against Carlsen, Radjabov drew with White against Ivanchuk, and Karjakin won with White against Nisipeanu. Nakamura - Carlsen was a Breyer with 11.c4. The...