The World Amateur Chess Championships 2016 took place from 19-27th April, 2016, in Halkidiki, Greece on the northern coast of the Aegean Sea. For the first time the Championships were held in three sections: Under-2300, Under-2000 and Under-1700. The total prize fund was 9000 EUR. The U2300 section had 43 participants. Zhuban Bigabylov (Kazakhstan) and [...]

The project “Education through Chess in School” is organized and guided by Polish Chess Federation in cooperation with the provincial chess unions and local authorities. It is addressed to primary schools for pupils from classes I-III. Key partners for Polish Chess Federation include Ministry of National Education and Ministry of Sport & Tourism. The idea [...]

Grandmaster Farrukh Amonatov from Tajikistan took the winner’s trophy in the 10th Tashkent Open – Memorial of Georgy Agzamov after edging the European Blitz Champion Rauf Mamedov on tie-break. The two players finished on 7,5/9 points each. The 10th Tashkent Open – Memorial of Georgy Agzamov was held on 18-26th April at the Shodlik Palace [...]

A new Turkish chess magazine with was born recently with the name “Satranç Sever” (literally translates into ‘Chess Lover’). The magazine is scheduled to be bimonthly and published by the founder and the owner of the first Turkish chess publishing house Analiz Publishing, FM Alper Efe Ataman, a renowned chess personality in Turkey and a [...]

From 21 to 25 April 2016 a FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar was organized in Sochi, Russia, by the Russian Chess Federation and under the auspices of FIDE. The Lecturer was IA Artiom Akhmetov (RUS), FIDE Lecturer. The language of the Seminar was Russian. Sixteen (16) National arbiters from Russia participated in the Seminar and six (6) [...]

RIP GM Viktor Gavrikov

Quiet moves often make a stronger impression than a wild combination with heavy sacrifices. – Mikhail Tal My game tonight was a satisfying positional crush. The Symmetrical English (A36) after 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 is straightforward for both players.  Black fianchettos, and thereafter, if White goes left, Black goes right, so […]

In my last article we saw how to break down fianchetto castled position by opening up the h-file with the help of h4-h5 lever, but sometimes your opponent can physically block the h file with the piece (usually a knight on h5/h4). In such situations it is often a good idea to sacrifice an exchange […]

FIDE has announced on Twitter the changes in the format for the upcoming 2016-2017 Grand Prix. The series will consist of four tournaments as before, but the field will be expanded to 24 participants. Another novelty is that the each stage will be played as 9-round Swiss event. The series will be organized by AGON. [...]

The Chess Federation of Sri Lanka on behalf of FIDE and the Commonwealth Chess Association cordially invites all eligible players to participate in the Commonwealth Chess Championship 2016 to be held in Waskaduwa, Sri Lanka from 30th July to 7th August. The tournament will be conducted as per FIDE Laws of Chess and FIDE Swiss [...]

Live games with analysis

The 14th Dubai Junior Chess Tournament 2016 is going to be organized by Dubai Chess & Culture Club from 19th – 27th July 2016. The event is a 9-round Swiss tournament with time control 90′ + 30″, open to all chess players (Boys/ Girls) Under 14 Years (Born 2002 and later) who have registered FIDE ID. [...]

The 2016 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship will not only go down in the history books as the strongest event but also as arguably the one with the most dramatic finale.

A FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar is going to be organized from 10 to 12 June 2016 in Munich, Germany, by the FIDE Disabled Commission and under the auspices of FIDE. The Lecturer will be IA Jamie Kenmure (AUS), FIDE Lecturer. The language of the Seminar will be English. The Seminar will give FIDE Arbiter norms according [...]

Participants and groups announced