The 13th World University Chess Championship is set to take place from 17th to 24th August at the Park Hotel Diament in Katowice, Poland. The Championship is organized by the Polish Chess Federation and FISU, and will be held in two sections – Men and Women. Each national federation is entitled to register up to [...]

Yesterday wasn't just about the FIDE election; there was a round played, too. In the open section most of the top matches were drawn (e.g. China-Ukraine, Azerbaijan-Romania(!), Belarus-Netherlands, Argentina-India, USA-Germany, Armenia-Serbia(!) and Norway 1st-Turkey(!), to name a few). As that group included the leading team - China - that offered an opportunity for four of the five teams on...

Εικόνες σε άσπρο και σε μαύρο, παλιές, καινούργιες, απεικονίζουν το παιχνίδι του σκακιού στο δρόμο. Και μαζί η ποίηση γιά τον κάθε λογής δρόμο που παίρνουμε ή που αφήνουμε. Γιά δρόμους αδιάβατους και γιά δρόμους...

Tromso, Norway – The President of the Russian Chess Federation, Andrey Filatov, and his counterpart from the Moldovan Chess Federation, Igor Dodon, signed an agreement today on cooperation in promoting chess in schools. Similar agreements were signed yesterday with the heads of the Turkmenistan and Belorussian chess federations. The Russian Chess Federation has proposed the [...]

It was great to see a chess player, Sharon Daniel, win Child Genius 2014 on Sunday evening. Sharon actually mentioned that one of the reasons she liked chess so much was because the tactics and strategy helped her mind. My impression whilst watching was that she was better under pressure than the other competitors and […]

Change in European government, ECUBackToEurope with crushing victory

Defeating incumbents is never easy. This is true when the incumbent is competent and honorable, but it seems almost equally true even when the sitting office-holder is incompetent and corrupt. (Perhaps especially when he is corrupt.) Which kind of incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is I leave to your evaluation, but one way or another he repulsed Garry Kasparov (pun intended) and won...

Λάβαμε από την Τοπική Επιτροπή Διαιτησίας και κοινοποιούμε την τροποποιημένη Γενική Οδηγία της ΚΕΔ και τον Κανονισμό Σεμιναρίων Διαιτησίας.

The FIDE General Assembly started on 11th August at 9am at the Tromso University. The Assembly started with obituaries and a minute of silence in the memory of departed Grandmasters, organizers and arbiters. Anthems of Norway and FIDE were played and then followed the report of Ms Margaret Murphy, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission. Friendly [...]

Press release by RCF regarding meetings in Tromso As the 2014 Chess Olympiad continues, the General Assembly of the European Chess Union (ECU) has held gathered for a series of meetings. On the first day of discussions, delegates addressed the petition of the Ukrainian Chess Federation to make a decision regarding the jurisdiction of Crimean [...]

The International Chess Festival Baku Open 2014, dedicated to the Independence Day of Republic of Azerbaijan, will take place from 21st September to 1st October at the AF Hotel near Caspian Sea. The Festival is organized by the Azerbaijan Youth & Sport Ministry and Azerbaijan Chess Federation. The total prize fund is 50,000 USD and [...]

 Mark Savelevich Liburkin (1910-1953) Μία πολύ όμορφη σπουδή του Ρώσου Mark Savelevich Liburkin θα μελετήσουμε σήμερα. Η σπουδή αυτή πρωτοδημοσιεύθηκε στο Wieczerniaja Moskwa το 1932.Ο λευκός έχει μία συντριπτική διαφορά υλικού αλλά θα πρέπει να είναι...

Πραγματοποιήθηκε το Σαββάτο, 09-08-2014, στην παραλία της Αγριάς Βόλου,αγώνας σκακιστικής επίδειξης “Σιμουλτανέ” από τον πρωταθλητή Ελλάδας Σωτήρη Μαλικέντζο.Ο Σωτήρης Μαλικέντζος αντιμετώπισε ταυτόχρονα 26...

Seeing China and Russia leading their sections isn't surprising; what is surprising is which section each is leading. But with Russia men losing to the Czechs in round 7 and only drawing the Spaniards in round 8 (Vladimir Kramnik lost with White to Francisco Vallejo!), their chances of earning their first gold since 2002 are next to non-existent. And in the women's section the Chinese loss to...

The first player to write extensively about the concept of two weaknesses was Nimzowitsch, who had a chapter on “Alternation” in his classic book, My System. By a coincidence of truly Plaskettian proportions, my own new book, “Nimzowitsch Move by Move” (see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nimzowitsch-Move-Steve-Giddins/dp/178194198X ) has just been published by Everyman, and...