The FIDE World Women’s Team Championship 2021 will take place from September 26 to October 3 in the city of Sitges. This coastal town in Spain’s Catalonia region hosted 8 editions of an important chess open “Sunway Sitges Chess”. Now, for the first time, Sitges will organize an official FIDE event. The event will feature 12 […]

Zhansaya Abdumalik won the final leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix held in Gibraltar. Abdumalik had a final score of 8.5/11 points to be 1.5 points ahead of the runner-ups. Second in the tournament was Mariya Muzychuk on 7 points, with Kateryna Lagno sharing third with Gunay Mammadzada of Azerbaijan, who had a fine tournament. Cumulative […]

The African Continental Women Champion Jesse Nikki February will be the guest in FM Calvin Klaasen’s show “Reflections” this Thursday at 19:00 CEST. Follow it live here. FM Calvin Klaasen is a professional chess player/coach from South Africa. FM Klaasen is the South Africa National Champion for 2017 and has played in multiple Chess Olympiads. He is playing and […]

The Azerbaijan Women’s Chess Championship 2021 took place from 21-30 May in Nakhchivan. IM Gulnar Mammadova scored 9/11 points to convincingly win the Championship. Mammadova earned the title of the Azerbaijani Women’s Chess Champion for the first time in her chess career. 18 years old WIM Govhar Beydullayeva, 4 times Azerbaijani Champion WGM Zeinab Mamedjarova […]

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$. In the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, the […]

The Rauzer attack against the Sicilian Dragon (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 O-O 8.Qd2 followed by 0-0-0 and a kingside pawn advance) is one of two major systems against the Sicilian pioneered by Vsevolod Alfredovich Rauzer; the other one was the Richter-Rauzer attack against the Classical system … Continue reading "Rip ’em with the Rauzer" The post Rip...

Magnus Carlsen is the world’s first bitcoin chess champion after overcoming Wesley So in a thrilling FTX Crypto Cup final. The Norwegian takes home the $60,000 first prize plus a 0.6 bitcoin bonus offered by tournament sponsor FTX. It is the largest prize pot ever offered in an elite online chess event. After the see-saw match ended with Carlsen punching […]

“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer” Bruce Lee A quick reminder how it works: Have a look at the position for 1 minute (watch the clock) Think about the choices in front of you and pick the one you feel it is … Continue reading "“What Say You?” The 1 Minute Challenge (47)" The post “What Say You?”...

European Hybrid Swiss tiebreak took place yesterday as a 9 rounds Swiss tournament, deciding the distribution of 32.000 EUR prize pool. 36 qualifiers for the FIDE World Cup 2021 participated the Finals. After 9 played rounds, two players tied for the top scoring 6.5 points each: Vladislav Artemiev (RUS, 2709) and Aleksandar Indjic (SRB, 2607). […]

Round nine of the Gibraltar leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix at the Caleta Hotel on 31 May came to a heart-stopping conclusion after six hours and ten minutes as Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan won her game against Valentina Gunina of Russia in 133 moves despite never having the remotest chance of winning the game for the first […]

Last week I showed you the first part of one of my online games, where we reached this rook ending after Black’s (my) 25th move. All I have to do to win the game is play sensible moves. I’ll skip through the next few without comment. They weren’t perfect on either side but didn’t change … Continue reading "Ruining the Rook Ending" The post Ruining the Rook Ending...

Ο πύργος του Δράκανου και το απέραντο γαλάζιο του Αιγαίου. Η Ικαρία είναι έτοιμη να δεχτεί και φέτος τους σκακιστές που θα συμμετάσχουν στον Ίκαρο 2021 - The tower of Drakano and the endless blue of the Aegean Sea. Ikaria is ready to host the chessplayers that will take part in...

Ο πύργος του Δράκανου και το απέραντο γαλάζιο του Αιγαίου. Η Ικαρία είναι έτοιμη να δεχτεί και φέτος τους σκακιστές που θα συμμετάσχουν στον Ίκαρο 2021 - The tower of Drakano and the endless blue of the Aegean Sea. Ikaria is ready to host the chessplayers that will take part in...

The African Continental Women Champion Jesse Nikki February will be guest in FM Calvin Klaasen’s show “Reflections” this Tuesday at 19:00 CEST. Follow it live here Jesse February has just won the Continental Championship and a WGM title. She will talk about her African Continental Chess Championship experience and more on FM Klaasen’s broadcast. Read […]

Last week, we started working our way into the middle-game by examining the further development of our forces (the pawns and pieces) at the opening’s conclusion and the middle-game’s start. The transition between the opening and middle-game is a great opportunity to further activate your pawns and pieces. This further activation of your forces allows … Continue reading "A...