Following up my post last Tuesday I thought I’d investigate whether the growing craze of chessboxing is healthy. Well probably it’s OK to look at but I wouldn’t recommend participating. Here’s a match as an example: There’s clearly some good cardiovascular exercise involved but hitting each other in the head lots of times seems like […]

The 4th International Chess Festival Riga Technical University Open was held on 15-24th August 2014 in the Latvian capital Riga. The event was a 9-round Swiss Open with a guaranteed first prize in the amount of 3.000 €. 212 players from 36 different countries took part in the tournament, including 35 GMs, 34 IMs, 3 WGMs [...]

The 2014 Stockholm Open was held  from 18th to 24th August 2014 in Stockholm, the cultural, media, political, and economic center of Sweden. The 9-round Swiss Open tournament hosted 69 players from 8 different countries. First place was shared by IM Jonathan Westerberg and GM Lars Karlsson on 7,5/9 points each, but Westerberg lifted the trophy on superior [...]

Competitive chess has become all work and discipline. We have anti-cheating, anti-doping and zero tolerance. Opening theory doesn’t stand still for a single day. It has become the norm that right after a round preparations start for the next. Where’s the fun, asks chess journalist and organizer Stefan Loeffler. One event he fondly remembers is [...]

The Chess Club Brda, City of Split and Croatian Chess Federation organized the fourth edition of  Split Chess Open 2014 from 16th to 23rd August 2014 at Hotel Zagreb in Split, the second-largest city in Croatia, situated on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. The 9-round Swiss event with a prize fund of 8.500 € hosted 184 players from [...]

From 3 to 10 August 2014, during the 41th Chess Olympiad, a FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar was organized in Tromso, Norway, by the FIDE Arbiters’ Commission in cooperation with the Norwegian Chess Federation and under the auspices of FIDE. The seminar was held in the venue of the Olympiad, in the DVIR Building. The lecturer was [...]

The 21st Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival Masters Tournament is taking place from 20-29th August at the Abu Dhabi Chess & Culture Club in United Arab Emirates. The main event of the Festival is Masters Tournament for foreign players rated above 2000 elo and all Abu Dhabi players. After four rounds of play Grandmasters Kryvoruchko [...]

Last week I considered three reasons why you might want to promote junior chess at a national level. One reason might be to produce strong players, potential IMs and GMs, young players who will do well in international junior competitions like the World and European Youth Championships. Top grandmasters almost always start competitive chess young. […]

The Abu Dhabi Blitz Tournament, part of the 21st Abu Dhabi Chess Festival, featured 108 participants from 26 countries. After 11 rounds of play Grandmaster Aleksandr Rakhmanov from Russia took a clear first place with 9,5/11 points, narowly edging GM Yuriy Kuzubov (UKR) and IM Gagare (IND). Full standings below. Video by Vijay Kumar, including [...]

The ZMDI Open 2014 was held on 15-23rd August 2014 at the Wyndham Garden Dresden in the city of Dresden, the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. The event was a 9-round Swiss Open with first prize in the amount of 2.000 €. The first place was shared in a four-way tie by [...]

The 29th Schwarzacher Chess Open 2014 was held at the Ballroom of the Hotel Post in Schwarzach im Pongau, a market town in the Austrian state of Salzburg on 16-23 August 2014. The German GM Kunin Vitaly became three-peat champion of the Schwarzacher Chess Open, emerging a clear winner for third consecutive year. The member of Chess Club Royal Salzburg started with perfect 5/5 [...]

The 13th World University Chess Championship 2014 is in progress in the splendid city of Katowice, center of science, culture, industry, business, trade fair/exhibitions and transportation in the Upper Silesia region and southern Poland. The 16th most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union holds the prestigious World University Chess Championship from 18th to 24th August...

The 6th and final tournament of the FIDE Women’s Grand-Prix 2013-2014 will take place from 24th August to 7th September at the world’s largest chess club in Sharjah (UAE). Twelve players will compete in the round robin tournament. The event is organized by the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club, FIDE and Global Chess MFZE. Top seeded is [...]

There are three basic types of chess students that I’ve encountered in my teaching career. The first is the casual student who simply wants to play chess without putting much time into studying the game. The second type is the serious chess student who wants to improve and is willing to put a fair amount […]

The 21st Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival Masters Tournament is taking place from 20-29th August at the Abu Dhabi Chess & Culture Club in United Arab Emirates. The Festival is supported by the Abu Dhabi Sport Council and consists of following sections: - Masters Tournament for foreign players rated above 2000 elo and all Abu [...]