The 7th Qualifier tournament of the FIDE Online Juniors World Blitz Championship was held on July, 23, 2015 on the official FIDE Online platform. The playing format was 11-round Swiss with the time control 3′+2”. Top seed GM Mikhail Antipov (Chiffa) stormed through the field of 35 players, obtaining perfect 11/11 score. Thus, the 18 y.o. Grandmaster qualified [...]

The 2015 Quebec Open was merged with the International Championships of French-speaking countries (AIDEF Championships) and held from 17-25th July at the Hotel Delta in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. All players associated with an AIDEF country (Association Internationale des Echecs Francophones), including Canada and USA, were eligible to participate. The main Championship section attracted 152...

Last week I introduced you to the concept of Chess Games for Heroes: short games for use by chess teachers in clubs, small groups or one to one, where students have to guess the next move (or rather select what they consider to be the strongest move) and receive points for good suggestions. Here, as […]

The 8th Open Internacional Ajedrez Poble de Montserrat was organized by the Club Escacs Montserrat and Ajuntament de Montserrat on 25th July in Major. Montserrat, Spain. The 7-round Swiss event with the time control 7′+3” gathered 91 participants. Grandmaster James Plaskett cruised through the competition to take the top prize with perfect 7/7 score. Final [...]

The 3rd Annual Sinquefield Cup is taking place from August 22 – September 3, 2015, at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL). The super tournament will gather some of the strongest players in the world: The reigning World champion Magnus Carlsen (2853) NOR, World #2 Viswanathan Anand (2816) IND, #3 Veselin Topalov (2816) [...]

The 5th Gibraltar Junior International Chess Festival is set to take place from 20-25th August, 2015, at the Caleta Hotel, venue of the famous Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival. The number of participants is limited to 140 and only players rated under 2300 FIDE (1st May) are eligible to compete. The Festival will have two main [...]

The 9th Leiden Chess Tournament 2015 is currently in progress in the Leiden Denksportcentrum. The event is a 9-round Swiss open with total prize fund >  € 5500 and tempo of play 90′/40 + 30′ + 30″. British champion GM David Howell maintains a full point advantage after the penultimate eighth round. Howell has 7.5/8 points, while the nearest follower, [...]

The 2015 Turkish Premier League is taking place from July 25-31, in Rixos Hotel Konya, The event is а 9-round team championship. 76 teams take part in the event. Top seed is Ordu Azdur Spor Sanat ve Kultur Kulubu. Tournament website/ Play chess online/ Chess Arena Video Channel

It’s summertime and probably the peak time of year if you are a chess professional. There are many tournaments all over Europe that can be so fun to play in. Last year we went to Ikaros and spent a lovely week there. Like last year, Gawain is now playing in the Politiken Cup held in […]

The Politiken Cup 2015 will be a 10-round Swiss open tournament taking place from 25th July to 2nd August at the Konventum in Helsingør, Denmark. A total of 434 players from 25 countries are expected to take part in the event. This by far exceeds the previous record of 311 players, set in 2011. The [...]

Over the last 13 months, I’ve had the opportunity to interview people who stopped playing chess after a serious attempt on their part to study the game. The point of my interviews was to find out why they gave up on the game they once loved so much and, to see if there was anything […]

The 11th Gazi-Heraklion Open 2015 is taking place from July 25 to August 1, at the Apollonia Beach & SPA Hotel*****, at the Greek island of Crete. The event is a 9-round Swiss tournament, open for players with Elo rating over 1500. Top seed is Bulgarian player GM Aleksander Delchev (2606). Tournament website/ Standings and [...]

The 8th Paleochora Open Chess tournament was held from 17-24th July 2015, in Paleochora town, part of the Mediterranean island of Crete. The event was organized by the Municipality of Kantanos – Selino and Chania Chess Academy, in collaboration with the Region of Chania and Greek Chess Federation. 215 players from 27 different countries took part in the [...]

Another strong Grandmaster joined the field of Hasselbacken Chess Open 2016. French player Vladislav Tkachiev (2661) is the third seed in the open tournament that will take place from April 30 through May 8, 2016, at the venerable Scandic Hotel Hasselbacken**** in the heart of The Royal Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden. Tournament website/ Registration/ LIVE games with analysis Vladislav...

The Politiken Cup 2015 is taking place on July 25 – August 2, in Helsingor, a city in Denmark, known internationally for its castle Kronborg, where William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is set. The event is a 10-round FIDE Swiss tournament, open to all players. 433 players from 25 different countries, including 27 GMs, 18 IMs [...]