The Baltic Zonal -Tallinn Stage was a 9-round Swiss tournament which took place from 14-20 May 2018 in Tallinn, Estonia. This is the first of three Baltic Zonal tournaments and the overall winner qualifies for the 2019 Chess World Cup. In a total of three stages, each participant will have 24 competitors (8 from each [...]

53rd edition of the Capablanca Memorial Chess took place from May 9-19 in the Habana Libre Hotel in Havana, Cuba. The tournament was divided in two sections, Elite group and Open tournament. 205 players took part in the open. After 10 rounds five players have finished with 7,5 points out of 10. The winner is [...]

53rd edition of the Capablanca Memorial Chess took place from May 9-19 in the Habana Libre Hotel in Havana, Cuba. The tournament was divided in two sections, Elite group and Open tournament. The elite group of 6 players was honouring the Cuban Chess World Champion José Raúl Capablanca in a double round-robin with new US [...]

Last week you saw my game against Ron Bruce (who had previously lost to Alekhine in 12 moves) from Paignton 1976. There are two further stories to be told about this game, reprinted here from RAT, the Richmond & Twickenham Chess Club Newsletter/Magazine with kind permission from the author, editor and publisher. The story so […]

Ο Φρανκ Μάρσαλ και ο Εμάνουελ Λάσκερ αναλύουν την παρτίδα που βρέθηκαν αντίπαλοι, Νέα Υόρκη 1924.  Το σούπερ τουρνουά του 1924 στην αμερικανική μεγαλούπολη γινόταν τις μέρες που ο Τζορτζ Γκέρσουιν παρουσίασε για πρώτη...

The tenth game of the Women’s World Chess Championship Match finished with a draw and with the final score 4.5-5.5.the challenger Ju Wenjun became the new Women’s World Champion. After the 9th game， Ju Wenjun has got the match point, she needed a draw to win the match. It was a difficult task for the [...]

I was recently solicited by an online company specializing in finding students for private teachers. I told them I’d look at their website before considering a listing. What I found was amazing and appalling at the same time. I have never seen so many listings for chess teachers in my life. I decided to see […]

Ο Μαξ Όιβε με το ποδήλατό του στο Άμστερνταμ το 1948. Σήμερα η πρωτεύουσα της Ολλανδίας είναι μια πόλη με μανιασμένη τουριστική κίνηση σε όλη τη διάρκεια του χρόνου και ιδιαίτερα ακριβή και για τους Ολλανδούς. Ελάχιστοι...

In a recent letter-reply to GM Kevin Spraggett, concerning the US sanctions against Kirsan Ilyumhinov, the FIDE Deputy President Mr. Georgios Makropoulos dropped a bombshell by mentioning the following: “FIDE board members have also seen the letter FIDE received from the Ethics Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), regarding the current situation in FIDE, [...]

“Of course they have proposed my name, but I did not take any decision,”

The 4th edition of the annual Global Chess Festival (GCF) will be held on Saturday October 13th, 2018. This year’s festival in Budapest will take place in the breathtaking location of the Hungarian National Gallery. As in previous years, a wide range of activities will be organised, all with chess as the main theme. “Our [...]

Πάνω: η πόλη Μπιέλ Μπιέν στο καντόνι της Βέρνης στην Ελβετία συνδυάζει στην κοινή σύγχρονη ονομασία και το ιστορικό γαλλόφωνο και το γερμανόφωνο όνομα – σκακιστικά ωστόσο έχει επικρατήσει να την λέμε Μπιλ. Κάτω...

In my lesson with Nigel today he flagged up (AGAIN) that I try too hard to force things in games. For those tennis fans out there he compared me to Dustin Brown trying to force winners when the Tiger Chess programme is about trying to emulate Federer by playing logical returns. The tactics – forehand […]

Uzbekistan Men Championship (Final) was held from 3 to 15 May in Tashkent. It was 14 players round-robin tournament. The winner is IM Nodirbek Yakubboev with 9,5 out of 13. This is his second title, after he won the championship in 2016. Second is FM Nikita Khoroshev with 9 points and third is IM Javokhir [...]

This is an amazing game played by Capablanca. I have been looking at this game for the last few days and didn’t find an obvious mistake or blunder by Black until he had a lost position. This game shows that how a better pawn island and slightly better king can be a decisive advantage in […]