Montenegro Chess Federation announced the official invitations for the European School Chess Championship and the 17th European Youth Rapid & Blitz U-8,10,12,14,16,18 Championship, both to be organized in June 2017 in Budva, Montenegro. Schools Championship will take place from 10 June (arrival) to 20 June (departure), while the Rapid & Blitz competition follows from 19 June [...]

One of the bigger problems every single beginner and many “improvers” face early in their chess careers is losing material due to hanging pieces. A hanging piece is one that’s not only unprotected but can be captured en prise or freely, meaning the hanging piece is captured without any loss of material to the player […]

The winner of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series 2015/16 is announced in Khanty-Mansiysk. Magnus Carlsen has proved that he is a real chess king by winning the WCCM on the tie-break against Sergey Karjakin thus defending the title of world chess champion and world No. 1. Meanwhile Ju Wenjun of China has showed a [...]

So the “main event” didn’t quite go to plan for us. We came a day early because trying to catch the early morning flight on Friday didn’t seem like a good idea for me. We were lucky that our time in Ireland coincided with our friends Chris and Amanda (Aussies but we forgive them!) and […]

In my previous article I looked at some broad categories of openings and why it makes sense to select some over others. This time I’ll look at another useful concept for those wanting to come back to the game, a chess version of the Zulu Principle. The Zulu Principle was first espoused by the British […]

Στις παρτίδες μπαράζ με μειωμένο χρόνο σκέψης κρίθηκε χτες το βράδυ, στη Νέα Υόρκη, ο τίτλος του παγκόσμιου πρωταθλητή. Οι 12 παρτίδες κλασικού χρόνου δεν είχαν αναδείξει νικητή (6-6, από μια νίκη ο καθένας). Ο Νορβηγός...

Moving further back in time here’s a really ancient Ruy Lopez with Wilhelm Steinitz playing Black. Steinitz is generally regarded as being the founder of modern positional play as he codified many positional ideas and techniques that had previously been less formally stated and existed only as rules of thumb of the best players. This […]

Congratulations to Magnus Carlsen!

Δημοσιεύεται σε συνέχειες ένα σπουδαίο κείμενο του Παναγιώτη Κονιδάρη, συγγραφέα σκακιστή και φαρμακοποιού από το Μεγανήσι Λευκάδας, σχετικά με τις σπουδές.Οι σπουδές είναι συνθέσεις (δηλαδή δεν έχουν οπωσδήποτε...

The World Schools Individual Championships starts on December 2, 2016 in Sochi. More than 400 young chess players from 30 countries will take part in the event, for the first time ever hosted in Russia. The opening ceremony will take place in the concert hall of the Grand Hotel Zhemchuzhina in Sochi and is expected [...]

Κείμενο: Γιώργος Σερπετσιδάκης Η Κρήτη και η Κύπρος μπορεί να είναι υπερήφανες γιατί έχουν δώσει στο Ελληνικό σκάκι το νεαρότερο μέχρι στιγμής Γκραντ Μαιτρ (Grand Master, GM), τον Ανδρέα Κελίρη. Ο Ανδρέας κατέκτησε τον τίτλο GM...

I was very sorry to hear about the recent death of Mark Taimanov, who I met and played several times. Having made it to 90, he was one of the last of the golden era of Soviet Chess players and I thought I’d share some personal reminiscences. We first played in a tournament in Portugal […]

Tο Σάββατο 3 Δεκεμβρίου και ώρα 7μ.μ. στο χώρο μας Λυκούργου 50 στην Καλλιθέα, θα διεξαχθεί το 6ο τουρνουά rapid του συλλόγου μας. Το παράβολο είναι 5 ευρώ και ο χρόνος σκέψης 10 λεπτά με επιπλέον προσαύξηση 5 δευτερολέπτων ανά...

The 2016 European Individual Rapid & Blitz Championships are organized by the Estonian Chess Federation under the auspices of European Chess Union.

Mark Evgenyevich Taimanov, an outstanding grandmaster, participant of the legendary candidates tournament of 1953, candidates cycle of 1970-1972, and Match of Century of 1970, passed away in St. Petersburg. Mark Taimanov is a USSR champion (1956), five-time Leningrad champion (1948, 1950, 1952, 1961, 1973), Chess Olympiad champion (1956), four-time European Team Champion (1957, 1961, 1965, [...]