Back in April, we found out about a strong chess tournament that was going to be held in the Isle of Man. Now it’s October and the first round starts today. The line up is impressive with Gawain being 7th seed. In the Masters the first prize is £6000 and the ladies 1st prize is £2000. […]

Μια όμορφη σύγχρονη δημιουργία του Ηλία Κουρκουνάκη Στο σύγχρονο σκάκι παίζονται συχνά εντυπωσιακές παρτίδες, ακόμα και από παίκτες που δεν είναι ευρύτερα γνωστοί. Αν όμως οι πρωταγωνιστές δεν έχουν την αναγνώριση...

You’re playing a game of chess, well into the opening, and you compare your position to that of your opponent. It appears that you both are equal, developmentally speaking. Your pawns and pieces are on active squares, yet your opponent quickly becomes the aggressor which leaves you having to defend rather than attack. You quickly […]

The strongest computer championship TCEC Season 7 – Stage 1a is close to its end and Gull maintains the lead with 9/11 points after drawing against Octochess in the eleventh round. Critter is currently second with 8 points, followed by Chiron with 7,5/10. Just two more rounds and the top 7 engines from this section will [...]

The Hong Kong International Open Chess Championship 2014 is organized by the Hong Kong Chess Federation (HKCF) in collaboration with Faculty of Science, The University of Hong Kong, HKUSU Chess with the Board Games Club and generously funded by the Kasparov Chess Foundation Asia-Pacific. 97 players from 17 different federations are taking part in the event, including 4 GMs, 6 IMs, [...]

My twelve year old son, who knows this endgame, found this video on Youtube. I have to admit that I might also have had trouble before practising this endgame with him and the excellent book, Pandolfini’s Endgame Course, as a reference. Of course knowing such things is just a small part of being a good […]

After winning the 10th round game with black pieces against Spike 1.4, Gull 3 is still unbeatable in TCEC Season 7 – Stage 1a. The engine now leads with 8,5/10 points, a full point ahead of the nearest follower Chiron, who also won in the 10th round against Cheng4. Critter 1.6a drew with Hannibal and [...]

The 11th Calvia Amateur Chess Festival 2014 is taking place on 4-12th October 2014 at the Palmanova Hall of the Sol Katmandú Park & Resort*** in Calvia, a municipality on the island of Majorca, Spain. The event will be a 9-round Swiss event open to all players rated below 2350 who doesn’t obtain GM or IM [...]

All modern chess players use the same tools: databases, engines, opening tutorials, tactical puzzles, etc. Then how can strong players win their games more often? What advanced skills should you have in order to beat average wood-pushers? I’m GM Igor Smirnov from Remote Chess Academy and it’s my pleasure to share with you some powerful [...]

My last Olympiad was in Khanty Mansiysk playing for New Zealand in 2010. I missed the 2012 Istanbul Olympiad due to visa issues. I was denied a spousal visa for the UK but it sorted itself out. Unfortunately, I was without my passport for 9months but I have it back now. Since then, I switched […]

Το Μπακού και η φορτουνιασμένη Κασπία. Πίνακας του ζωγράφου Αλεξέι Μπογκολιούμποβ, συνεπίθετου του γνωστού σκακιστή. Κείμενο: Μέτοικος στη Νίσυρο Karjakin-Caruana, Nakamura-Svidler, Tomashevsky-Grischuk, Mamedyarov-Radjabov, Dominguez-Kazimdzhanov και Gelfand-Andreikin...

The Hong Kong International Open Chess Championship 2014 is organized by the Hong Kong Chess Federation (HKCF) in collaboration with Faculty of Science, The University of Hong Kong, HKUSU Chess with the Board Games Club and generously funded by the Kasparov Chess Foundation Asia-Pacific. 97 players from 17 different federations are taking part in the event, including 4 GMs, [...]

In a chess game, both sides start out with a complete front line of Pawns, which means that to make progress, you have to break through that front line somehow. The only way to break through is to advance your own Pawns and bring out your pieces to attack your opponent’s front line. At some […]

Gull 3 is Fabiano Caruana’s impersonation at the seventh season of the strongest computer competition TCEC. The engine is leading with 7,5 points out of 9 rounds, just like Caruana during the strongest closed tournament ever Sinquefield Cup 2014. Gull scored another victory in the ninth round outplaying Hannibal 1.5×5 with White pieces. Critter 1.6a and [...]

GM Davorin Kuljasevic was invited inside the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium on 15th September 2014 to deliver a chess lecture and a simultaneous exhibition. The invitation came from the famous Chess Club Europchess, founded in 1972 under the official name “cercle d’échecs des Communautés européennes C.E.C.E”. Such invitations have been a tradition since 1973 when [...]