Το σκακιστικό τμήμα της Γυμναστικής Εταιρείας Αγρινίου οργανώνει την Κυριακή 9 Νοεμβρίου στις 9.15 π.μ. στην αίθουσα δεξιώσεων του Emileon το δεύτερο σχολικό πρωτάθλημα Αγρινίου . Στην διοργάνωση θα λάβουν μέρος μαθητές από...

The 2014 Chess World Cup Zonal 3.5 is taking place from 26th October to 5th November 2014 in Zhongshan, China. The event is an 11-round Swiss Open, consisting of 54 players. Six of them are GMs, nine IMs, 4 FMs and 3 WGMs. Top seeded are GM Bu Xiangzhi (2710), GM Wei Yi (2641), WGM Ju [...]

The 41st Indian Individual Women Premier Chess Championship 2014 is taking place from 25th October to 5th November 2014 in Sangli, a city in the state of Maharashtra, in western India. The event is a round-robin tournament in eleven rounds. Top seed is last year’s winner WGM Mary Ann Gomes (2355). Official website

The American Continental Chess Championship 2014 took place on 18-26th October 2014 at the Hotel Pipa Atlântico – Convention Center on Praia da Pipa in Brazil. The event was an 11-round Swiss Open with a prize fund in the amount of 20,000 USD. The first place was split in a six-way tie by GM Granda Zuniga Julio (Peru), GM [...]

Μόνος πρώτος ο ΣΟΠ στο Ομαδικό Πρωτάθλημα Παίδων Κορασίδων της ΕΣΣΠ, μετά τον Γ’ γύρο και μετά την νίκη του επί της ΝΕΠ. Αποτελέσματα Γ’ γύρου και κλήρωση Δ' γύρου

The 7th round of the European Youth Chess Championship 2014 in Batumi was played on Sunday. The first seed in the youngest Open group Ilya Makoveev from Russia is the only player who managed to win all 7 games in the tournament. In the youngest girls group three players with 6 points are in the [...]

A vital part of chess skill is a subconscious understanding of ‘micro-patterns’ that jump out at you whenever they arise. There are many such patterns in chess, with strong players quickly realizing things such as the position of rooks relative to passed pawns (usually they should be behind them!). In the following game I’d like […]

The classic “Indian Chess History” by Manuel Aaron and Vijay D Pandit has been officially released. The first copy was presented by FIDE Vice President D.V. Sundar to the AICF President P.R.Venketrama Raja in the presence of Ashok Jain, President, Maharashtra Chess Association and a large number of State representatives from around the country on [...]

A FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar is going to be organized from 11 to 13 November 2014 in New Delhi, India, by the All India Chess Federation and under the auspices of FIDE. The Lecturer will be IA Casto Abundo (PHI), FIDE Lecturer and Assistant Lecturer will be IA Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh (IRI), FIDE Lecturer. The language of [...]

The Chess Federation of Pakistan has initiated steps to widen the player base across the nation. They have identified conduct of rapid events across the nation before start of Provincial and National Chess Championships. The third of the series of the tournaments was organised in Faisal Town, a suburb of Lahore with a participation of [...]

From 15 to 16 October 2014 a FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar was organized in Baku, Azerbaijan, by the Azerbaijan Chess Federation, under auspices of FIDE. The venue of the Seminar was the office of the Azerbaijan Chess federation in Baku. The lecturer was IA Faik Gasanov (AZE), FIDE Lecturer. The lectures were in Russian language, with [...]

The International Chess Festival “Mikhail Chigorin Memorial” 2014 was held on 17-26th October 2014 at Hotel “Park” in Saint Petersburg, the second largest city in Russia. The 9-round Swiss event with prize fund in the amount of 1.800.000 RUB (nearly 35.000 €) was won by Serbian Olympic representative GM Ivan Ivanisevic with 7.5/9 points. Russian GM Ivan [...]

The 18th OIBM Bad Wiessee Open Chess Tournament has just started, gathering 480 players, including 25 Grandmasters and 19 International Masters. The traditional arbiter Horst Leckner has opened the event with a speech (as you can see on the picture), while the sunny Bavarian autumn weather welcomed the tournament guests. The spectators are in expectation [...]

The 18th Offene Internationale Bayerische Schachmeisterschaft is taking place from 25th October to 2nd November 2014 in Bad Wiessee, a spa town on Lake Tagernsee in Bavarian Region of Germany. The event is a 9-round Swiss with time control 2.500 €. Top seed is Armenian GM Hrant Melkumyan(2678). Official website

My last post have considered how most parents have little or no knowledge of what chess is all about. They want their children to ‘do’ chess because it ‘makes them smarter’ or, in my part of the world, because it will help their application to the secondary school of their choice, and will drop chess […]