Novice chess players often consider a piece to have complete freedom if it has some mobility. Mobility is a piece’s ability to move to or control an optimal number of squares. Obviously, a piece does have some form of freedom if it can control a large number of squares from its position on the board. […]

– Good! I am coming! With these words Alexei Shirov accepted to participate in Hasselbacken Chess Open, that will take place from April 30 through May 8, 2016 in Swedish capital Stockholm. Stockholms Schacksällskap, one of the world’s oldest chess clubs, celebrates its 150 years jubilee with a grand tournament at the venerable Scandic Hotel Hasselbacken**** in the heart of [...]

The prestigious FIDE World Online Women Blitz Championship 2015 started on Thursday with the first qualifier tournament being played on the official FIDE Online platform. The start of the race saw an impressive field with 38 players from 23 countries, including 2 Grandmasters, 9 IMs, 8 WGMs, 6 WIMs, 6 WFMs, 1 WCM and 1 [...]

The Russian Higher League, the fourth stage of the 68th Russian Men’s Chess Championship and the 65th Women’s Championship, is to take place in Kaliningrad from June 21st till July 2nd as part of the Chess in Museums international program implemented by the Russian Chess Federation together with Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation. The [...]

When I was much younger than I am now I used to watch a cartoon called The Flintstones. One of the characters on The Flintstones was a Martian called The Great Gazoo. My opponent’s handle on ICC reminds me of that cartoon character. In reality, my opponent is not from Mars but is from the […]

Captains of the Serbian national teams have announced their lineups for the 2015 European Team Chess Championship which will be held in Reykjavik, Iceland on 12-22nd November. GM Slavoljub Marjanovic, captain of the men’s team, retained the players from the 2014 Chess Olympiad with one change – national champion Dejan Antic will replace GM Aleksandar [...]

The 116th Annual U.S. Open Chess Championship is set to take place from 1-9th August at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona. The tournament format is 9-round Swiss one section with Class prizes and time control 40/120, SD/60 d5. Top US player not otherwise qualified will qualify for the 2016 US Championship. Last year winner [...]

Branicevo Chess Union, Chess Club VGSK, municipality Veliko Gradište and Danubia Hotels are organizing the Chess Festival “Silver Lake 2015″ from 20-28th June, 2015, on Silver Lake, Veliko Gradište, Serbia. The event is a 9-round FIDE-Swiss tournament with the participation of 72 players from 13 different countries, including 14 GMs, 18 IMs and 14 FMs. Top seed is [...]

The 10th Edmonton International Chess Festival is scheduled to take place between June 19 and June 28, 2015, at the Edmonton Chess Club, in Alberta, Canada. The event promises to be a great tournament and a perfect way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Alberta’s first annual International competition. It will be played in a 10 [...]

The traditional ČEZ Chess Trophy 2015 Festival took part from June 12 through June 16, 2015, at the marvelous Michna Palace on Kampa Island, in Prague, the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. The World #9 Wesley So (2778) defeated World #14 David Navara (2751) in a match of four games. So prevailed with white pieces in rounds 2 and 4 [...]

The long anticipated FIDE World Online Women Blitz Championship 2015 is starting today on the official FIDE Online platform. The first stage of the Championship will be completed over eight (8) qualifier tournaments, followed by a semifinal with 64 players, and a final tournament with 10 players. A rich prize fund of 9000 USD will [...]

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it. – Omar Khayyam Is there anything sadder in chess than the “almost masterpiece”? This game was on its way to being […]

The Las Vegas International Chess Festival 2015 is taking place from 18-21st June at the Westgate Resort & Casino, 3000 Paradise Rd., Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The Festival features the National Open, the U.S Game/10 Championship, the U.S. Women’s Open and the International Youth Championship. The side events include: Grandmaster Walter Browne Simul, Youth Simul [...]

A FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar is going to be organized from 23 to 27 July 2015 in Larnaca, Cyprus, by the Cyprus Chess Federation Arbiters’ Commission, in cooperation with the Cyprus Chess Federation and under the auspices of FIDE. The Lecturer will be IA Panagiotis Nikolopoulos (GRE), Chairman of the FIDE Arbiters’ Commission and FIDE Lecturer [...]

A FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar is going to be organized from 12 to 16 September 2015 in Dubai, UAE, by the UAE Chess Federation, in cooperation with the UAE Leaders Qualification Center and under the auspices of FIDE. The Lecturers will be IA Dr. Hesham El Gendy (EGY), FIDE Lecturer and IA Sultan Al Taher (UAE), [...]