The 1st stage of the SP Masters Series was played on April 12th, in the "Club Athletico Paulistano", located in Sao Paulo, the biggest city in Brazil. The tournament had eight players - 6 GMs, 1 IM and 1 FM. The initiative belongs tot he ADX (Association for the Chess Development), and the next tournament will be played on May 10th, at "Club Hebraica", also in Sao Paulo.

About 20 Grandmasters are taking participation, adding more prestige to the event. Among them are Fabiano Caruana, Daniele Vocaturo, Sabino Brunello, Michele Godena, Robert Hubner, Kiril Georgiev, Emil Sutovsky, Ivan Salgado Lopez, Bartosz Socko, Alberto David, Bulgarian champion Julian Radulski etc.

Malcolm Pein reports on Gata Kamsky's progress to the final of the US Championship by beating Sam Shankland.

Malcolm Pein reports on Gata Kamsky's progress to the final of the US Championship by beating Sam Shankland.

In keeping with what had gone on for most of the US Women's Championship, Anna Zatonskih won the title by drawing, with Black, in the Armaggedon game that put an end to a crazy tiebreak with Tatev Abrahamyan. In the first game, like the Armaggedon battle, Zatonskih was Black in an Advance French. Things were running very smoothly for her until 24...g6? 25.Qe3 Qa2?!, when 26.d5 followed by 27.Nd6+...

Ρεκόρ συμμετοχών σημειώθηκε στους φετινούς Αιγαιοπελαγίτικους Αγώνες που φιλοξενεί η Σαντορίνη, με 8 νησιώτικες ομάδες να ρίχνονται καθημερινά στη μάχη της σκακιέρας, αλλά και να προσπαθούν να αντιμετωπίσουν...

Τοπική Επιτροπή Σκακιστικών Σωματείων Αιγαίου - Αθλητικός Σκακιστικός Όμιλος ΣαντορίνηςΔελτίο τύπου 28-4-2011Περισσότερες ομάδες και πολλά παιδιά στους Αιγαιοπελαγίτικους της Σαντορίνης!Ρεκόρ συμμετοχών σημειώθηκε...

After an opening miscue led to a struggle for equality, GM Yury Shulman conceded a draw to GM Gata Kamsky and with it the title of 2011 U.S. Champion. Kamsky also won the title last year in another final-round game with Shulman. Kamsky won $40,000 for first place, plus $2,000 more for winning his preliminary group.

Ο Καμσκυ διατηρησε τον τιτλο του πρωταθλητη των ΗΠΑ. Απο τους ελαχιστους πρωταθλητες των ΗΠΑ που εχουν καταφερει κατι τετοιο. Αξια διατηρησε τον τιτλο του και απαντησε με χιουμορ στα ερωτηματα που του τεθηκαν στην...

New: Wojo’s Weapons, volume 2. The late GM Aleksander Wojtkiewics scored a stunning 80.2% winning percentage with his Fianchetto King’s Indian. IM Dean Ippolito and NM Jonathan Hilton make this score accessible to amateur players by clearly demonstrating Wojo’s way to victory. You, too, can win the Wojo way.

It took Gata Kamsky 19 years between titles last year but his 3rd title came quickly as he joined a select band of players to retain the US Chess Championships. This hadn't been done since Lev Albert in 1984-5 and the only other players to do it are Sammy Reshevsky, Bobby Fischer and Walter Browne. The 2nd game was itself a damp squib as Kamsky, and indeed possibly both players, were pretty sure...

It took Gata Kamsky 19 years between titles last year but his 3rd title came quickly as he joined a select band of players to retain the US Chess Championships. This hadn't been done since Lev Alburt in 1984-5 and the only other players to do it are Sammy Reshevsky, Bobby Fischer and Walter Browne. The 2nd game was itself a damp squib as Kamsky, and indeed possibly both players, were pretty sure...

Only Bobby Fischer, Sammy Reshevsky, Lev Alburt and Walter Browne did it before him: retaining the U.S. Championship title. Yesterday Gata Kamsky beat Yuri Shulman 1.5-0.5 in the final to remain U.S. Champion for at least another year, a prize he won in 1991 for the first time. The women’s title will be decided today [...]

102 players in Open A and 25 in Open B are taking participation. The time control for each player is 90 minutes for the whole game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. The FIDE system rules are valid and the tournament is FIDE rated.

In what must be a confidence-booster going into the Candidates matches, which start next week(!!), Gata Kamsky clinched the championship title with an easy draw against Yuri Shulman. Kamsky had the black pieces, but had no trouble at all, quickly obtaining a better position and a big advantage on the clock. I don't know if he could have pressed for more, but he didn't need to. Winning the first...