On May 10th a new Chess section has opened at the Sirius Educational Center in Sochi. The launch of the project was announced by Chairman of the Center’s Board of Trustees, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, who wished the youngsters and teachers success in mastering the new programme, under which pupils gifted [...]

It’s best to think twice before moving pawns that form the king’s shelter, but often people play f2-f4 (f7-f5) in order to gear up their rooks and f pawns against the opponent’s king. Unfortunately that weakens the a2-g8 (a7-g1) diagonal. So whenever your opponent plays such moves you should think about possibilities of smothered mate, […]

Live games with analysis

Με την συμμετοχή 84 σκακιστών και σκακιστριών πραγματοποιήθηκαν και φέτος τα πρωταθλήματα παίδων κορασίδων ηλικίας έως 16 ετών της ΕΣΣΠ. Οι αγώνες αποτελούσαν αγώνες πρόκρισης για τα πανελλήνια ατομικά πρωταθλήματα...

Χωρίς εκπλήξεις η προημιτελική φάση του Κυπέλλου. Ο ΣΟΠ, η ΝΕΠ, ο ΣΟ Ρίου και ο Άγιος Βασίλειος προκρίθηκαν στο Final Four που θα πραγματοποιηθεί στο Επιμελητήριο Αχαΐας το διήμερο 14-15 Μαϊού. Στα ημιτελικά θα συναντηθούν ο ΣΟ...

Grandmaster Dusan Rajkovic from Serbia won the 17th International Heraklion Open that was held from 2-9th March at the Galaxy Hotel, in Heraklion, Greece. The famous veteran (74 years) collected 7,5/9 points, leaving the chasing pack half a point behind. The tournament was organized by the Heraklion OAA, Heraklion CC, Dec.Admin.of Crete and Municipality of [...]

The 25th Annual Chicago Open will be held over Memorial Day weekend from May 26-30, 2016, at the Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel, 601 North Milwaukee Ave, Wheeling, Illinois. The event has 8 sections: Open, Under 2300, Under 2100, Under 1900, Under 1700, Under 1500, Under 1300 and Under 1000. The Open Section is a [...]

According to the TASS report, Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit today the Sirius educational center for gifted children, as they are opening a new development section – chess. Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik will be head of the chess department. The Russian Chess Federation assisted in developing the curriculum. The Sirius educational center was [...]

On 6, 7 and 13 February 2016 the 46th Internet based FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar was held, organized by the Chess IQ Academy (USA) and under the auspices of FIDE. The Lecturer and Technical Organizer of the seminar was IA/IO Sevan Muradian (USA), Secretary of the FIDE Rules Commission and FIDE Lecturer and Assistant Lecturer was [...]

Just as in cricket, “catches win matches”, so in chess, it is tactics which decide 90% of games, especially below super-GM level. Consequently, it is always useful to add to your stock of familiar tactical ideas. Today’s round of the Russian Team Championship threw up a highly unusual one, which I had not seen before. […]

The 4th Polish-Hungarian Friendship Tournament in Katowice attracted almost 600 players from twelve different countries. There were 21 grandmasters who took part in the OPEN tournament with over 240 players. The winner of the main tournament is GM Kacper Piorun (POL) who gathered 7,5 points out of 9 games. Second place goes to GM Bartosz [...]

Ο Α.Σ.Ο. Αιγίου και η Α.Σ.Α. Αιγιαλείας προκηρύσσουν Ανοιχτό Ατομικό Τουρνουά, για Αθλητές/τριες κάτω των 18 ετών, σε Ελβετικό Σύστημα 6 Γύρων, με Διεθνή Αξιολόγηση. Οι Αγώνες θα διεξαχθούν από 27,28 και 29 Μαϊου 2016 στο Αίγιο...

In a recent game, I saw a weaker player than me get a really good position. But then he decided to simplify to an endgame. He made a positionally bad move and exchanged his good pieces for his opponents passive pieces. In the diagram position, he could have played Ne4 , after which it is […]

The battle for qualification positions heats up

Jamie Kenmure informs about the lineups of the Australian teams for the 42nd Chess Olympiad to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Open: 1.GM David Smerdon 2.GM Zong-Yuan Zhao 3.IM Moulthun Ly 4.IM Anton Smirnov 5.GM Max Illingworth Women: 1.WIM Heather Richards 2.WIM Giang Nguyen 3.WIM Emma Guo 4.WIM Biljana Dekic 5.WIM Alexandra Jule