Only four months after the Chess Olympiad in Tromso where the greatest chess players of the world competed against each other it is already time to have a look at the best talents of the next generation. The Hungarian Chess Federation (HCF) is organizing the World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad for teams in Győr (Hungary) on 12-22nd December 2014. [...]

The SportAccord World Mind Rapid Chess Games 2014 took place on 11-12th December 2014 in Beijing, China. The gold went to Russia after Alexander Grischuk and Valentina Gunina emerged clear winners. Grischuk finished first with 5/7 points, leaving the nearest followers Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hao Wang, Levon Aronian and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov half point behind. The French prodigy Vachier-Lagrave...

Για την πόλη Gyor της Ουγγαρίας αναχώρησε την Παρασκευή 12/12 η ελληνική αποστολή που θα λάβει μέρος στην φετινή Σκακιστική Ολυμπιάδα μέχρι 16 ετών. Στους αγώνες θα λάβουν μέρος 54 ομάδες από 38 χώρες με 4μελείς συνθέσεις και...

The SportAccord World Mind Chess Games 2014 are taking place on 11-17th December 2014 in Beijing, China. Some of the strongest women in the world will compete in the blitz tournament: Yifan Hou, Anna Muzychuk, Humpy Koneru, Nana Dzagnidze, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Antoaneta Stefanova, Valentina Gunina, Xue Zhao, Wenjun Ju, Tatiana Kosintseva, Elisabeth Paehtz,Dronavalli Harika, Anna...

The 6th Penang Heritage City International Chess Open 2014 is taking place on 8-12th December 2014 at the Red Rock Hotel in Penang, a state in Malaysia, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The 9-round Swiss tournament gathered 38 players from 6 different federations, including 13 GMs, 6 IMs, 6 FMs, 2 WIMs and 1 WFM. Five [...]

The SportAccord World Mind Chess Games 2014 are taking place on 11-17th December 2014 in Beijing, China. Some of the strongest men in the world will compete in the blitz tournament: Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov,Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Vassily Ivanchuk, Lenier Dominguez Perez, Ruslan Ponomariov, Teimour Radjabov, Boris Gelfand, Petar...

The 64th Individual Greek Championship and 37th Individual Women Greek Championship were held from 3-11th December 2014 in the luxurious Alkyon Resort Hotel & Spa in Vrahati, Corinth. Both sections were 10-player round-robin tournaments. WFM Haritomeni Markantonaki became the national champion after walking through the women’s tournament with 8,0/9 points, leaving the nearest followers...

Beginners tend to have an easier time improving their basic opening and endgame skills than they do improving their middle-game skills. The opening principles are easier to define and apply compared to middle-game principles. Basic endgame principles are likewise easier to learn and employ compared to middle-game principles. What is it about the middle-game that […]

The 2014 edition of the Philippines International Chess Championship took place on 6-12th December 2014 at the Celebrity Sports Plaza in Quezon City, Philippines. The event was organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), under the auspices of FIDE, with assistance from Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC). The 10-round Swiss...

Here’s an interesting video of the London Chess Classic blitz qualifier, won by England’s Michael Adams. I hasten to add that players of this level can play meaningful blitz games, but as you go down the rating scale it becomes ever more destructive to players’ thinking habits: This great event finishes on Sunday, the official […]

Πάμε βόλτα στα (χειμωνιάτικα) Χανιά Στους όμορφους χώρους του κτιριακού συμπλέγματος του Πνευματικού Κέντρου Χανίων, θα διεξαχθούν από τις 20 ως τις 22 Δεκεμβρίου τα Πανελλήνια Ατομικά Πρωταθλήματα RAPID και BLITZ 2014. Τα...

The Hungarian Chess Federation (HCF) is holding the World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad for teams in Győr (Hungary) from 12th December (arrival) to 22nd December (departure). The U-16 Youth Olympiad is conducted under the auspices of FIDE. The tournament venue is located in the University of Győr (Nyugat- Magyarorszagi Egyetem), Liszt Ferenc út 42. Players [...]

GM Hannes Stefansson and reigning champion of Iceland IM Gudmundur Kjartansson shared the first place in San Salvador Chess Open with 7,5/9 points each. San Salvador Chess Open was held from 5-10th December at the Palacio de los Deportes INDES in San Salvador, El Salvador. The 9-round Swiss event was organized by the Federacion Salvadoreña [...]

The Pavlodar Open 2014 took place from 1-10th December in Pavlodar, a city in northeastern Kazakhstan. The tournament was devoted to the Republic of Kazakhstan Independence Day and organized by the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, Management of tourism, physical training and sports of the Pavlodar area, and Pavlodar Chess Federation. 100 players competed in the 10-rounds [...]

The 6th Penang Heritage City International Chess Open 2014 is taking place on 8-12th December 2014 at the Red Rock Hotel in Penang, a state in Malaysia, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The 9-round Swiss tournament gathers 38 players from 6 different federations, including 13 GMs, 6 IMs, 6 FMs, 2 WIMs and 1 WFM. Top [...]