The 77th edition of the Italian Chess Championship takes place in Cosenza, Italy, from 28th November to 11th December and consist of three simultaneously played events: - Italian Chess Championship - Italian Chess Championship for Women - Italian Junior Chess Championship All events are played in Presso Italiana Hotels, as the playing venue of the [...]

Round three of the London Chess Classic did not bring any decisive results, but it was not for the lack of effort. Levon Aronian gave everyone hope by predicting that in an effort to win, at one point, someone will play something complicated, blunder and lose their game. It could have very well been him [...]

Reigning European champion Maxim Matlakov (Russia) and his countryman Dmitry Gordievsky will participate in the 80th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in January. Matlakov will participate in the Tata Steel Masters and Gordievsky in the Tata Steel Challengers. They have earned their invitations because of their ranking in the ACP competition. The field [...]

No blood was spilled during round two of the London Chess Classic, however, many of the games were combative. Early in the round there were several enterprising middlegame positions which looked promising; yet, bringing the full point home is an extremely daunting task as all the players are extremely good defenders. The fighting spirit the [...]

The King’s Indian Attack is a set-up that was first used as a Black opening and then adopted with colours reversed. It can be used almost regardless of what Black plays though it does seem to be better against certain set-ups. In the game below my Dad uses it against the French and wins a […]

Ένα ιδιαίτερο σκακιστικό φεστιβάλ ολοκληρώθηκε στη Ρουμανία. Επρόκειτο για το 11ο Kings Tournament που αυτή τη φορά ήταν αφιερωμένο στη μνήμη της WGM Ελιζαμπέτα Πολιχρονιάντε που πέθανε το 2016, σε ηλικία 80 ετών. Η Πολιχρονιάντε...

The Superfinals of 70th Russian men’s championship and 67th Russian women’s championship are taking place on December 2-15 at the State Museum of Political History of Russia (2-4, Kuybysheva St., Saint Petersburg). The organizers are the Russian Chess Federation, Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation, the State Museum of Political History of Russia, Chess Federation [...]

Live games with analysis

Live games with analysis

My grandfather spent time in Leicester Gaol. My father was in Feltham Borstal (now Feltham Young Offenders Institution) for several years. I was in Broadmoor (then described as a hospital for the criminally insane, now described as a high security psychiatric hospital) on three occasions in the 1970s. How many of us, I like to […]

There once was a time when an individual wanting to pursue a particular skill would take on the task knowing that the path to mastery was a long, hard and often difficult journey. However, the person embarking on this journey simply accepted the idea of long, hard work as the cost one paid when striving […]

It was a peaceful day at the Google Headquarters in London, which hosted round one of the London Chess Classic. The day started slowly with three symmetrical positions out of the opening. It seemed that the only game that had any promise of producing a decisive result was the battle between Carlsen and Caruana until [...]

I found both inspiring and interesting the behavior that IM Zhansaya Abdumalik kept from start to finish that let her win clear first the Girl section without leaving board 1.

Best female player of all times, Judit Polgar, speaks about the importance of Chess in Schools projects.

The 3rd ECU School Chess Teacher training course took place in PODIT Educational and Chess Center in Budapest, from 25th-26th November. The course comprised two days of interactive presentations, group discussions and practical exercises with focus on the teaching aspects of chess. Participants, after completing the course, had to pass the online test to reach [...]