Magnus Carlsen’s round 8 game from the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee was a good example of not giving up. He blundered a piece away in the opening but fought on and eventually won. Here’s an interview with him after the game. As for the entire round, here it is with expert commentary. […]

In modern chess, FIDE elections always mean fireworks. You should not be surprised – chess nowadays is an influential sport, involving people around the world in the hundred millions, moving in a large financial world on its own and mixing in sectors such as tourism, politics, international art, etc. Chess matters. For its well being [...]

The Russian Chess Federation elections are in full swing with the main focus on the battle between Andrey Filatov, the current President of RCF, and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. The election will take place in Moscow during the XIII Congress of the Russian Chess Federation, on February 3, and as we approach the date the race gets [...]

Hanging pawns are the pawn duo on half open files, usually on c & d file. This pawn formation may arises from many openings, especially Queen’s gambit declined; Tartakower system. As they are on half open files, fundamentally they’re weak and owner of the hanging pawns has to occupy his pieces to defend them. The […]

Το σκάκι είναι συναρπαστικό παιγνίδι και έχουν γραφτεί ποιήματα γι' αυτό.Με ευκαιρία μια σημερινή ανάρτηση του Χρήστου Πιλάλη στην Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών, παραθέτω μερικά ποιήματα.Κωνσταντίνος Καβάφης, (από την...

Live games with analysis

16th International Chess Festival “Aeroflot Open 2018″ will be held in Moscow from 19 February to 2 March 2018. The Organizers of the Festival are the “Aeroflot-Russian Airlines”, the Russian Chess Federation and the Association of Chess Federations. The festival will be held in the hotel “Cosmos”. This time the festival has the guaranteed prize [...]

The Portuguese Chess Federation will hold the Portugal Open between 03 and 09 February 2018 at the Gym of Sports Complex of Casal Vistoso (Lisbon). The tournament is 9-round Swiss system. More then 250 participants are expected. The top players are GM Anton Demchenko, GM Tigran Gharamian, GM Aleksandar Indjic, GM Samuel Sevian etc… Live [...]

XIV International RSSU Chess Cup «Мoscow Open-2018» International RSSU Chess Cup «Moscow Open-2018» is held in Moscow from January 25 to February 5. The place of venue is Russian State Social University (RSSU). The Cup hosts are Russian State Social University, a non-profit organization Moscow Chess Federation, the Management of Sport and Entertainment Activities of [...]

“Everything in life goes back to the basics” Kron Gracie Last week I wrote about material balance in response to a call for help from my online student C: “Recently I’ve been noticing that when I’m in a game, sometimes I don’t find an attack, or a really good move right away, and I start […]

16th Annual Gonzaga Charity Classic will be held from 26 to 28 January. Venue will be Gonzaga College SJ. The tournament is divided in 3 sections Masters: 1800+ (5 Rounds FIDE rated), Championship: 1100 – 1900 (6 rounds), Challengers: Below 1200 (6 rounds). Top seed are GM Ante Saric, FM Viacheslav Tilicheev, GM Tamas Fodor, [...]

Συμπληρωματικά της προκήρυξης αναφορικά με τον χώρο των αγώνων, οι αγώνες θα πραγματοποιηθούν στο εντευκτήριοι του ΣΟΠ στο Παμπελοποννησιακό Στάδιο. Οι δηλώσεις συμμετοχής παρατείνονται ως την Τετάρτη 24/01 στις 12.00.

Caleta Hotel hosts the 16th edition of the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival! Activities begin on Sunday, January 21st (with two simultaneous displays that evening, by GMs David Howell and Natalia Zhukova) and finish with the traditional gala dinner and prize-giving on Thursday, February 1st, 2018. For 2018 the prize fund reaches a record £200,000, the [...]

Αρχίζουν στον βράχο του Γιβραλτάρ οι διοργανώσεις του Tradewise Gibraltar Chess 2018 που είναι ένα από τα σημαντικότερα διεθνή σκακιστικά φεστιβάλ κάθε χρονιάς. Σήμερα Δευτέρα 22/1 θα παιχτούν οι πρώτοι γύροι στους ομίλους Challengers A...

Here’s a complicated game I played this last weekend. It also took almost 4 hours, which is one of my longest games so far. I think I kept my position alive by finding tactical resources, though my Dad says I was lost at various points and should have advanced my queenside pawns. In any case […]