I’ve recently seen some comments about amateurs supporting professionals, a view which probably came about because UK chess has been run down so much and has very little sponsorship. But I think that there’s another side of this that seems to be getting ignored. Here are some of the ways in which amateurs are being […]

V. Anand against M. Carlsen in 2009 (WCH Blitz) In the diagrammed position Anand was losing anyway, but he played 46.Rh1. This allowed Carlsen to mate him in one with 46…Qg3#. This method of checkmating is called the Epaulette mate where the two escape squares have been occupied by the king’s own pieces, usually rooks. […]

Not for the first time this week, there was a lone decisive game in a round of the final leg of the Grand Chess Tour. With only four decisive results (out of 25) so far, chess fans from all over the world will hope for the players to come back well-rested after tomorrow’s free day! [...]

A FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar is going to be organized from 5 to 10 February 2016 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, by the Brazilian Chess Federation and under the auspices of FIDE. The venue of the Seminar will be the Espaço Xadrez Total, Rua Machado de Assis 702. Villa Mariana, São Paulo. The Lecturer will be IA [...]

A FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar is going to be organized from 9 to 10 January 2016 in Prague, Czech Republic, by the AVE-KONTAKT s.r.o. and the Czech Chess Federation and under the auspices of FIDE. The Lecturer will be IA Andrzej Filipowicz (POL), FIDE Lecturer. The venue of the Seminar will be the Olympik hotel (4*), [...]

The 7th Penang Heritage City International Chess Open 2015 is taking place from December 7-12, at RedRock Hotel, in Penang, Malaysia. The event is a 9-round Swiss open with tempo of play 90 + 30″. A total of 119 players from 17 different countries take part in the open tournament. Top seed is GM Dimitri [...]

The WALTON Premier Division Chess League takes part from December 6-14, 2015, in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. The event is a 7-round team competition with tempo of play 90′ + 30″. The average Elo rating is 2126. Top seed is the team of Bangladesh Navy Chess Team. Standings and statistics

Despite today’s four draws, chess lovers from all over the world were treated to some thrilling chess and it was almost 11pm when the last two players called it a day. But before we get to the actual chess action, here’s a reminder that on Wednesday 9th December the CNN will be asking Magnus Carlsen [...]

The Al Ain Chess Club is organizing the 4th Al Ain Chess Classic from 22-31st December 2015. The 9-round Swiss tournament will take place at the Al Ain Rotana Hili Hotel. Top prizes are $13,000 / $10,000 / $7,000 / $4,500 / $3,000 / $2,000 etc (20 regular prizes) There are also special prizes for [...]

The 39th Zurich Weihnachtsopen will take place from 26th to 30th December, 2015, at the Crowne Plaza Zürich in Zurich, Switzerland. The Master Tournament (for players rated over 2000) and General Tournament (U2050) will each be played over 7 rounds of Swiss system. Currently top rated Grandmasters are GM Naiditsch Arkadij AZE 2698 (last year [...]

Το σκάκι, όπως περνάει σε μια σκηνή της ταινίας “Τhe Water Diviner”, η οποία αποτέλεσε το σκηνοθετικό ντεμπούτο του Ράσελ Κρόου, το 2014. Το σενάριο βασίστηκε σε βιβλίο του Αυστραλού (ελληνικής καταγωγής) Αναστάσιος...

The ACP Masters was opened on Monday, December 7th, in Kivoonim cultural Centre in the city of Ashdod. The players were welcomed by Moshe Slav, chairman of the Israeli chess federation and chief organizer, who said that it is in fact the strongest invitational tournament ever to be held in Israel to be transmitted to the entire world [...]

I’m back home after commentating on the London Chess Classic last Friday, but I’m due to return next weekend. One interesting thing happened meanwhile in that my son, having seen me commentating, became interested in following the games. Prior to this he had been looking at the games of his peers, which provided far from […]

The 2015 African Youth Chess Championship is taking place from 5th to 13th December at the Golden Peacock Hotel in Lusaka, Zambia. About 260 kids from 14 countries are taking part in the competition. Nearly 500 guests in total make this event a memorable one in the history of ‪‎chess‬ in Africa. The opening ceremony [...]

After yesterday’s five draws, it looked like there could be up to four decisive results in today’s 3rd round, but many missed opportunities meant Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was the only player to bring home the full point, thus joining Anish Giri in the lead with 2/3. Official website/ Standings and statistics/ LIVE games with analysis In the most [...]