The SPICE team won the Final Four college chess championship for the fifth time. This was the third consecutive title of the team as Webster University. With 10 points, Webster University broke our own all time Final Four record of 9.5 points (in 12 games) set in 2013 and 2014. In addition, the 4.5 point [...]

From 9 to 14 March 2015 the 39th Internet based FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar was held, organized by the FIDE Arbiters’ Commission and under the auspices of FIDE. The lecturer of the Seminar was IA Panagiotis Nikolopoulos (GRE), Chairman of the FIDE Arbiters’ Commission and FIDE Lecturer, and Assistant Lecturer and Technical Organizer was IA Mihail [...]

A FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar and a Refreshing Course for Arbiters is going to be organized from 8 to 12 May 2015 in Cairo, Egypt, by the Egyptian Chess Federation and under the auspices of FIDE. The venue of the Seminar will be the Santana Hotel in Cairo. The Lecturer will be IA Geurt Gijssen (NED), [...]

Natalia Pogonina (Russia) and Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine) will fight for the title of FIDE World Women’s Champion in Sochi. They qualified for the final match after a stunning tiebreaks day. At earlier stages Pogonina and Mariya Muzychuk were encouraging and supporting each other, and on April 2nd they will face each other for the highest [...]

The 2015 U.S. Championship is taking place in Saint Louis from March 31 through April 14. The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis brings together one of the strongest fields ever to compete for the national title, 12 of America’s top Grandmasters who combine for a 2732 rating average. The prize fund of the event is [...]

The U.S. Women Chess Championship is taking place in the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis from March 31 through April 14. The event is a round-robin tournament in eleven rounds with prize fund in total of 75,000$. Tournament website

The World Team Chess Championship 2015 is organized by the Armenian Chess Federation under the auspices of FIDE, from 18-29th April in Tsakhkadzor, Armenia. The tournament will be held at the Golden Palace Tsakhkadzor Hotel. According to FIDE Regulations and the decision of FIDE President the following federations participate in the championship: Russia, China, Hungary, India, USA, [...]

The “San Sebastian City” 38th International Chess Open is scheduled to take place from 28th March to 4th April, 2015. The venue of play will be Gros Xake Taldea. Anoeta passeig, 20. Donostia – San Sebastián (Frontón Karmelo Balda). The event is a 9-round Swiss tournament valid for FIDE rating and norms. Top seed is Spanish [...]

The VMCG Chess Festival is scheduled to take place from 15-23rd August, 2015, in Lueneburg, a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. The venue of play is the 4-Star Seminaris Hotel****, Soltauer Straße 3, 21335 Lüneburg, while the main tournament sponsor is VMCG (Vanhoff Management Consulting AG). The event will be split into three tournaments: [...]

This chess game was one of my first attempts at playing the Slav Defense, Chameleon Variation. I saw a YouTube video in which GM Leonid Kritz advised playing this opening, so I decided to give it a try. So far, the results have been mixed. That video can be viewed here: http://videoblog.mikeseroveyonchess.com/wp/gm-leonid-kritz-dominate-w-the-slav-defense-chameleon-variation-empire-chess/. I won...

The SCC Galactica (Sochi, Krasnaya Polyana) hosted the second games of the FIDE Women’s World Championship Semifinals. The Russian Natalia Pogonina defeated Pia Cramling (Sweden) as White and equalized the match. The game between Harika Dronavalli (India) and Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine) ended in a draw. Both matches are tied, and their outcome will be determined [...]

On Saturday 28th March, in Zagreb, Croatia the memorandum between the European Universities Sports Association (EUSA) and the European Chess Union (ECU) was signed. The memorandum represents the inclusion of chess in the official sports program of the EUSA annual events. Chess is the 19th sport included in EUSA competitions. The agreement was signed during [...]

The 141st MGU Open 2015 was held on 28-29th March, 2015, at Chess Club MGU, in Sofia, capital and largest city of Bulgaria. The event was organized by FA Dimitar Iliev under the auspices of the University of mining and geology “St Ivan Rilski” Sofia,  Chess Club “An Pasan” and “Zora” Trading Company in a 6-round Swiss FIDE format, open to all players rated [...]

Video analysis by GM Davorin Kuljasevic

The following position is a very quiet position. There is nothing spectacular to find. White has a slight grip on the position. But how can he make a move which squeezes Black just slightly more? These are the sorts of moves which are very difficult for amateur players to spot. What move would Black like […]