After Slovakian Grandmaster Jergus Pechac showed the spirit of majestic sportsmanship during the European Hybrid Qualification Tournament for the FIDE World Cup 2021, FIDE President decided to provide him a wild card for Sochi. An interesting situation arose at the European Hybrid Qualification Tournament in the game between the Israeli chess star GM Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2676) […]

World No. 5 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov finished the 1st leg of the 2021 Grand Chess Tour with 6.0/9 points to win 1st place in the 2021 Superbet Chess Classic, clinching victory after a draw with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final round. Tying for second place were Levon Aronian, Wesley So, and Alexander Grischuk, who each drew […]

The 2021 edition of the Prague Chess Festival takes place from 14-20 June in Hotel Don Giovanni in Prague, Czech Republic. The Festival features Masters, Futures, Open and Rated tournaments. The main Master event is an 8-player round-robin tournament with participation of: Duda Jan-Krzysztof (POL) Van Foreest Jorden (NED) Navara David (CZE) Shankland Sam (USA) […]

“Chess is the gymnasium of the mind.” Blaise Pascal Last week we had the level 4 (rating range 1,100 to 1,400) graduation exam. It was the first time when we did it online: one hour to solve 20 puzzles. A simple arithmetic look at it gives the student 3 minutes per puzzle. Any saved time … Continue reading "Tales from the Club (2)" The post Tales from the Club (2) appeared first on The...

There are several books with this title, but the one I had in mind in this episode of my occasional series concerning books which are often bought by the wrong people for the wrong reasons, was this. In truth there were many books I could have chosen for this article, but I didn’t want to … Continue reading "Wrong Books (4): Chess for Kids" The post Wrong Books (4): Chess for Kids...

This week, we are going to start delving into the world of tactics. You have probably heard the world tactics used in unison with the word strategy, as in the phrase strategy and tactics. The two words are actually very different in meaning. Strategy can be thought of as the overall plan that helps you … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners Twenty Two" The post A Foundation for...

Five rounds have been played at the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour Romania 2021. After 5 played rounds, the resting day took place yesterday. World No. 9 GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won the only decisive game of the day 5 as he defeated GM Constantin Lupulescu with the Black pieces, catching up to the […]

Άποψη του λιμανιού του Αγίου Κηρύκου από το πλοίο Για άλλη μια φορά οι ακτοπλοϊκές εταιρείες Blue Star Ferries και Dodekanisos Seaways, οι οποίες δραστηριοποιούνται στη γραμμή της Ικαρίας, στηρίζουν έμπρακτα το Διεθνές Σκακιστικό...

As a kid I read that White had the advantage in open games (1.e4 e5) if he could get d2-d4 in successfully, so I wondered why he didn’t just play 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 rather than mess about with the indirect 3.Bb5. After 3…exd4 4.Nxd4 I figured that White was threatening to give Black doubled pawns … Continue reading "Slay ’em with the Scotch" The post Slay ’em with the...

The first event of the 2021 Grand Chess Tour, Superbet Chess Classic 2021, takes place from June 3-15, 2021 in Bucharest, Romania. The event is hosted in Stejarii County Club, with 10 participants playing a 9 rounds round-robin tournament. The total prize fund is 325.000$. LIVE: Grand Chess Tour Romania 2021 The 1st round of the […]

“Choices are the hinges of destiny” Pythagoras A couple of games from the past 2 rounds of our club tournament provided instructive positions. The first one of them is from an endgame. Black’s last move was 29… c6. Have a look at the position but not at the solution and decide what you would have … Continue reading "Quick Decisions (6)" The post Quick Decisions (6) appeared...

I’ve played two rather similar endings online recently. Both started off with bishop against knight before the minor pieces were traded off into a pawn ending. I was very lucky to win both games after my opponents, with not a lot of time on the clock, went wrong. In the first game I was black … Continue reading "Two Instructive Endings" The post Two Instructive Endings appeared first...

The first event of the 2021 Grand Chess Tour, Superbet Chess Classic 2021, will take place from June 3-15, 2021 in Bucharest, Romania. The event will be hosted in Stejarii County Club, with 10 participants playing a 9 rounds round-robin tournament. The total prize fund is 325.000$. List of participants: Fabiano Caruana Levon Aronian Anish Giri […]

Last week, we looked at the transition between the opening and middle game. This week, we’ll introduce the meat and potatoes of the middle-game, tactics. Actually, we will spend the next few weeks going over tactics because there’s a lot to it! Before jumping into the world of tactics, we’ll talk about two fundamental skills … Continue reading "A Foundation for Beginners...