The 8th HDBANK Cup International Open Chess Tournament was held from 9th to 16th March 2018 in HaNoi, VietNam. The venue was Army Hotel. 130 players took part in the tournament. Before the last round they were 3 players with 6,5 points out of 8. Two of them met and drew- IM Minh Le Tuan [...]

The 19th European Individual Championship takes place from 16-29 March in Batumi, Georgia, organized by the government of Georgia together with the government of Adjara Autonomous Republic, Tbilisi City Hall and the Georgian Chess Federation under the auspices of the European Chess Union. The tournament hall will be in “Sheraton Batumi”. The European Individual Chess [...]

GAMMA Reykjavik Open 2018 was held from 6 to 14 March. This time the tournament was dedicated to the Chess – King Bobby Fischer. 248 players took part in the tournament. Before the 8th round it was announced that GAMMA will be renewing their sponsorship deal for another three years! It is also clear that [...]

This OTB chess game is one of my wins against a 1500-rated player with me playing the Black side of a Benko Gambit Declined. My first win with the Benko Gambit was when I was still rated 892. That chess game went over 70 moves. The win below was much faster. I was married and […]

Ο Στίβεν Χόκινγκ, ενώ ήδη εκδηλωθεί η νόσος του κινητικού νευρώνα παίζει σκάκι με ένα από τα τρία παιδιά του. Η φωτογραφία είχε τραβηχτεί από τον Ίαν Μπέρι τη δεκαετία του 1970. Η χτεσινή αγγελία του θανάτου ήταν το...

The Open Iraqi Championship is a 9-round Swiss tournament taking place from 14-19 March 2018 in Baghdad. Players receive 90 minutes for the entire game, plus a 30-second increment starting from move one. live game with analysis will be provided daily with the best chess software competing in the Top Chess Engine Championship – Komodo, [...]

To Σαββατοκύριακο 17 και 18 Μαρτίου θα πραγματοποιηθεί στον όμορφο χώρο του Πάρκου της Ειρήνης το Final Four του Διασυλλογικού Κυπέλλου της ΕΣΣΠ. Οι 4 ομάδες που κατάφεραν να περάσουν τις διαδοχικές φάσεις του κυπέλλου είναι...

Lessons from the games of Magnus Carlsen are usually related to positional chess or endgames. Here we have position after move number 46, Carlsen has an extra pawn but there are opposite colour bishops on the board: Q: Do you see any winning chances for Carlsen? A: Yes, the position on the board offers winning […]

Going straight to the end (approximate translation) When there are no more dropped pieces for free and those around you are not scared anymore of the Fried Liver, the games grow longer. They test you patience and resilience, especially when you reach the endgame more often. It is the time when you should seriously start […]

Η δήλωση εκδήλωσης ενδιαφέροντος για την συμμετοχή στην τελική φάση των Πανελλήνίων Μαθητικών Πρωταθλημάτων που θα πραγματοποιηθούν στο Περιστέρι θα πρέπει να γίνει μέχρι το μεσημέρι της Πέμπτης 15 Μαρτίου...

About The Thinkers and chess photography

Winning in the last round makes all the difference to a tournament. After four rounds in Blackpool I was only on one point, despite having had two winning positions with White but I managed to win the last game which changed the result completely: Sam Davies

Με την συμμετοχή περίπου 450 μαθητών απο όλη την περιφέρεια Δυτικής Ελλάδος και τα νησιά της Ζακύνθου και της Κεφαλλονιάς πραγματοποιήθηκε σήμερα στον πολύ όμορφο χώρο του Πάρκου της Ειρήνης στο Πανεπιστήμιο της...

There are plenty of puzzle books where you’re invited to find the winning move: to win material or force checkmate. But very few books present puzzles where you have to find the best defence. Try your hand at this position. It’s Black’s move. Go away, make yourself a cup of coffee or pour yourself a […]

Bulgarian Individual Chess Championship was held from 3 to 11 March in Kozloduy. It was 10 players round-robin tournament. GM Ivan Cheparinov was leading all the time. He won 7 games and drew 2 and with 8 points out of 9 is a deserved winner. GM Vasil Spasov is second with 6,5 points and third [...]