H ιδιαίτερη εμπειρία της Βουδαπέστης είναι τα περίφημα θερμά λουτρά της, κυρίως στεγασμένα, αλλά και οι υπαίθριες πισίνες. Πρόκειται για ένα μεγάλο δίκτυο λουτρών που διαμορφώθηκε σταδιακά από τον 13ο αιώνα που...

The 2nd Sunway Sitges International Chess Festival was held from December 12-20, 2015, in Sitges, Barcelona, Spain. The event was a 9-round Swiss open tournament with prize fund in total of 19,700 € and 2,000 € reserved for the winner. The Spaniard GM Marc Narciso Dublan emerged a clear winner with 7/9 points, leaving the nearest followers half [...]

World Champion Magnus Carlsen experienced a setback already in the first round of the 2015 Qatar Masters Open as he was held to a draw by the Georgian women’s champion IM Nino Batsiashvili. Vladimir Kramnik, Anish Giri, Wesley So and Sergey Karjakin won their respective games with ease. But later in the pairings Grandmasters Harikrishna, [...]

In this week’s problem, Black is winning. However, care must be taken at all times or else accidents can happen. An accident can easily happen in queen versus rook endings. Black carelessly played 1…Kf2. How did White respond? The solution to last Monday’s problem is that White plays 1. h4!! c1=Q 2. Qg5+ Qxg5+ 3. […]

Russian Grandmaster Ivan Popov became the winner of the European Rapid Chess Championship 2015, which was held on 19-20th December in Minsk, Belarus. Popov defeated Ilia Smirin from Israel in the direct encounter of the last round and triumphed with 10 points out of 11 games. Silver medal went to Armenian Grandmaster Hrant Melkumyan (2011 [...]

The 2015 Qatar Masters Open is organized by Qatar Chess Federation from December 19-30. The event is a 9-round Swiss open tournament for players rated over 2300. The hefty prize fund is in the amount of $130.000 including $27.000 top prize and $8.000 first women prize. The strong field is headed by World champion Magnus [...]

The 2015 Match Tournament Nutcracker is taking place from December 19-26, in Moscow, Russia. The event is a double-round Scheveningen match between the team of “The Kings”, consisting of experienced top players GM Boris Gelfand (2731), GM Peter Leko (2705), GM Alexander Morozevich (2692), GM Evgeny Najer (2674) and the team of “The princes”, represented by [...]

The 7th FIDE Open Corbas is scheduled to take place from December 20-23, 2015, at Gymnasuim Jean Jaurès, in Corbas, eastern France. The event is a 7-round Swiss FIDE Open tournament for women with 28 registered players. Top seed is IM, WGM Deimante Daulyte (2372) from Lithuania. Tournament schedule: Sunday, December 20 – Round 1 [...]

With two rounds to go I was on 5½/9. Two more good results would give me my best ever tournament performance. In round 10 I was black against a good friend, Bill Phillips, who had started Pinner Junior Club shortly before Mike Fox and I started Richmond Junior Club in 1975. Bill is still an […]

Former European champion Grandmaster Zdenko Kožul is declared winner of the 2015 Zadar Open after edging his compatriot GM Saša Martinović on tie-break. The two players finished on 6,5/9 points each. Kožul also qualified for the next championship of Croatia. The 2015 Zadar Open was held from 13-19th December at the Falkensteiner Hotels & Resorts [...]

Ο Φρανκ Μάρσαλ σε ηλικία 16 ετών σε φωτογραφία του 1893 που δημοσιεύτηκε στην εφημερίδα του Μόντρεαλ “Le Monde Illustre” όταν ο νεαρός Αμερικανός έχασε σε σιμουλτανέ από τον παγκόσμιο πρωταθλητή Βίλχεμ Στάινιτς. Η παρτίδα...

Technology has been a great aid in learning how to play chess. It allows students in remote regions, where chess teachers are hard to find, the ability to learn the game via software programs, DVDs and online videos. It’s a win win situation, right? Well, there’s positive and negative aspects to learning chess by employing […]

The cast and crew discuss which Sherlock character would win at Cluedo or chess, and why… Programme website: http://bbc.in/1IJbTBZ

The National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Belarus has promised to support the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in its campaign to include chess in the program of Winter Olympic Games. The matter was discussed during the meeting between Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in Minsk on 18 December, BelTA informs. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov [...]

Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan goes way back to the end of the longest reign in world championship history: Emanuel Lasker vs. José Raul Capablanca. The match was delayed for years due to The Great War and failed negotiations. Seirawan covers the pivotal Game 5.