Aeroflot Open is set to take place from 21st February to 1st March at the Cosmos Hotel in Moscow, Russia. One of the richest open tournaments will offer 140,000 EUR in prizes. Traditionally, the event consists of three sections: Open A, Open B and Open C, and a blitz tournament. The prize fund allocated for [...]

The European Women’s Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship 2017 will take place in Monaco, from 20th to 24th October, 2017, in the Hotel Novotel, as the official venue of the events. The events are organized by the Monaco Chess federation, under the auspices of the European Chess Union. The first on schedule is European – [...]

Πέρασαν ήδη δέκα χρόνια από το πρώτο «οικογενειακό» τουρνουά των Σκακιστικών Συλλόγων Τριανδρίας. Προσφέροντας κάτι καινούργιο κάθε φορά, πασχίζοντας για το καλύτερο κάθε χρονιά, γιορτάζουμε φέτος το 10ο διεθνές...

It’s been a long time since I showed you any actual chess on a Sunday, so here, for a change, are two puzzles for you to solve. In each case I just want you to select your next move, and, if you want, consider what the two positions have in common. In this position it’s […]

Tactics can quickly decide the games of beginning and intermediate players, so knowing how and when to employ them is crucial if you wish to improve your game. Of course, tactics are not a guaranteed way to win but they can change the material balance in your favor and thus make it easier to win […]

The first stage in the new World Chess Championship cycle – the FIDE World Chess Sharjah Grand Prix – was opened tonight at the beautiful Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club, established in 2013. The opening ceremony was attended by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, head of the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Culture, Youth, [...]

“In a set match, Morphy would beat anybody alive today… Morphy was perhaps the most accurate chess player who ever lived. He had complete sight of the board and never blundered, in spite of the fact that he played quite rapidly, rarely taking more than five minutes to decide a move.” Bobby Fischer I’ve always […]

Is chess an art, science or sport? Or something else? I tend to take the position that we should aim first and foremost for better results as this generally means better quality of play. It’s also too easy for people to proclaim themselves to be artists when another unsound sacrifice or dubious gambit goes wrong. […]

After a few days at home we headed to Northampton for Round 5 & 6 of the 4NCL. We missed rounds 3 & 4 while in Wijk, and our teams played each other in Round 3. White Rose lost but we managed to get some points off them! This was our first time playing in […]

In my last article, I have stated that calculation and formulation of plan are the core skills in chess. There are different ways to getting better at calculation and studying king and pawn endgame is one of them. Why king and pawn endgames? Because the result usually hinges on precise calculation. Let’s consider the following […]

Altibox Norway Chess, the chess super tournament, has managed to gather the world’s top 10 best players for the 2017 edition. The tournament aims to be amongst the top 3 strongest chess tournaments in the world. The 2017 tournament takes place from June 5 to 17 at the Clarion Energy Hotel and at the Stavanger [...]

“A space advantage means little if there is no way to penetrate into the enemy position.” Jeremy Silman, The Amateur’s Mind It is very easy to throw around words like “space advantage”. One side can get that really quickly by playing aggressive or when the opponent is really shy and defensive. So you get it […]

The third day of play at the FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship is over and all the results of the first round are in. After the regular time control 21 matches out of 32 had been decided. The remaining 11 matches continued on Monday with quick-play tiebreaks. LIVE games with analysis Nine players were eliminated [...]

Το Σάββατο 11 Φεβρουαρίου έγινε η κοπή της πίτας στον Σκακιστικό Όμιλο Καλλιθέας. Μας τίμησαν με την παρουσία τους ο Δήμαρχος Καλλιθέας κ. Δημήτρης Κάρναβος, ο Αντιδήμαρχος Πολιτισμού κ. Γιώργος Κυριακόπουλος, ο...

One thing I’ve been working on recently with my Dad is not to play passively, especially when winning. This helped me win my first game in a long play open tournament, which was especially welcome after I lost my first three games. I think Black missed 17.Nd4 but the position became a bit dangerous for […]