Viktor Korchnoi was scheduled to play a match with Ben Finegold in St. Louis next week, concurrent with the Hikaru Nakamura-Ruslan Ponomariov match, but has had to cancel due to health concerns. According to the organizers, the concerns are not serious in the big picture, but are enough to impair Korchnoi's ability to travel internationally. It's a pity Finegold and for fans who hoped to see the...

And not only Vassily Ivanchuk, mind you; it's a very strong tournament. Ivanchuk is the top seed, with his 2776 rating, but there's also Leinier Dominguez (2726), David Navara (2702), Lazaro Bruzon (2693), Le Quang Liem (2687) and Dmitry Andreikin (2687). After yesterday's first round, it's Andreikin who leads after beating Bruzon with White; Ivanchuk-Navara and Dominguez-Le were both...

The previous post was on a book called The Safest Grünfeld, and that safety theme carried over to the Candidates' games today. Grischuk-Kramnik was drawn almost before the ink used to write the first move had dried, while Kamsky-Gelfand displayed a bit more elbow grease but was still a super-cautious affair. To elaborate somewhat, lest I be accused of following their lead: Grischuk-Kramnik...

Το κείμενο είναι γραμμένο και δημοσιευμένο από τον GM κ. Igor Smirnov. Απλά το έχω μεταφράσει πιστά στα Ελληνικά. Όλα τα πνευματικά δικαιώματα ανήκουν στον GM κ. Igor Smirnov. © 2009 – 2011, Smirnov Igor. All rights reserved.Γιατί οι άνθρωποι παίζουν...

Το κείμενο είναι γραμμένο και δημοσιευμένο από τον GM κ. Igor Smirnov. Απλά το έχω μεταφράσει πιστά στα Ελληνικά. Όλα τα πνευματικά δικαιώματα ανήκουν στον GM κ. Igor Smirnov. © 2009 – 2011, Smirnov Igor. All rights reserved.Γιατί οι άνθρωποι παίζουν...

After two free days the FIDE Candidates matches resumed on Thursday in Kazan, Russia. Both Grischuk-Kramnik and Kamsky-Gelfand ended in draws. These semi-finals are also played over four classical games and, if needed, a tie-break on Monday. Later more. General info The Candidates matches take place May 3-27 in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia. Levon Aronian (Armenia), [...]

Candidates Matches 2011 live games with computer analysis. The semi finals games will be analysed by the new version of the Stockfish 2.1 engine, with estimated ELO of 3150.

We started our magazine ChessVibes Openings in the first week of January, 2009 and quite often we are asked if it’s possible to purchase back issues. Our answer: yes you can! You will receive a ZIP file with all PDFs and PGNs, and also one big PGN file with all issues together. Which opening variations [...]

Kamsky - Gelfand and Kramnik - Grischuk are the semi final matches of the Chandidates Matches 2011. Stay tuned with us for games commentary, video, and news from Kazan, the venue of the Candidates Matches 2011.

With everyone's bracket busted with the dependability of all short match events, we move to the semifinals of the 2011 candidates matches. Gata Kamsky blew Veselin Topalov off the board with black in the second game of their match, as steady a refutation of a new opening idea as you are likely to find. Topalov's prep was sharp and deep as always, but Kamsky managed to survive it and get the...

Μια από της καλύτερες ατάκες που έχω ακούσει ποτέ…Ένας νέος σκακιστής, περίπου 10 χρονών έπαιζε μια παρτίδα με έναν πολύ καλό σκακιστή. Σε κάποια στιγμή του παιχνιδιού και ενώ ο καλός παίχτης έχει παραπάνω ένα άλογο και...

Μια από της καλύτερες ατάκες που έχω ακούσει ποτέ…Ένας νέος σκακιστής, περίπου 10 χρονών έπαιζε μια παρτίδα με έναν πολύ καλό σκακιστή. Σε κάποια στιγμή του παιχνιδιού και ενώ ο καλός παίχτης έχει παραπάνω ένα άλογο και...

Βρισκόμαστε σε μία περίοδο, που ο καθένας παίρνει αυτό που μπορεί μόνος του. Δολοφονίες, βιασμοί, ο καθένας για την πάρτη του και για δικό του λόγο. Η δολοφονία του 44χρονου, η δολοφονική επίθεση των ΜΑΤ κατά τη διάρκεια...

Βρισκόμαστε σε μία περίοδο, που ο καθένας παίρνει αυτό που μπορεί μόνος του. Δολοφονίες, βιασμοί, ο καθένας για την πάρτη του και για δικό του λόγο. Η δολοφονία του 44χρονου, η δολοφονική επίθεση των ΜΑΤ κατά τη διάρκεια...

Alexander Delchev and Evgenij Agrest, The Safest Grünfeld (Chess Stars, 2011). 347 pp. Reviewed by Dennis Monokroussos. I've been a fan of almost every Chess Stars' opening book I've seen over the years, and that positive run continues with their brand new The Safest Grünfeld, co-authored by Alexander Delchev and Evgenij Agrest. Both are 2600+ level GMs (Delchev's peak rating so far is...