Clara Cavour talked to Vladimir Kramnik about a number of topics, including connection between art and chess, talent, beauty, parallels between chess and life, sport and energy, and family. Kramnik also explains why he is not a typical competitive chess player, mentioning how Carlsen, Kasparov and Karpov wanted to win at all costs in whatever [...]

Stockfish (3157) extends the lead in TCEC Season 6 – Stage 4. The winner of TCEC Season 6 – Stage 3 defeated Houdini 4 (3148) and Critter 1.6a (3038) in two consecutive rounds (fifteenth and sixteenth) to enjoy a full point lead of the second place with 10.5/16 points. The reigning TCEC champion Komodo (3148) is second with 9.5/16 [...]

India’s biggest television network Doordarshan will telecast four exclusive Highlights of the 16th Dubai Open International Chess Championship 2014 on its DD Sports Channel from 22-25th May. Filmed and Produced by Vijay Kumar the 30 minutes highlights of each episode will be telecast as under: 1st Episode on 22 May 2014 from 11pm to 11:30 [...]

The 2014 Women’s World Blitz Champion GM Anna Muzychuk has decided to return to the Ukrainian Chess Federation after representing Slovenia is last five Chess Olympiads. The transfer of Muzychuk, currently rated 4th among women with 2561 elo, should compensate for the loss of Women’s World Rapid Champion Kateryna Lagno (2540, world #6) who is [...]

Άποψη από το ακριτικό Διδυμότειχο. Διακρίνονται τα ίχνη του βυζαντινού παρελθόντος με το κάστρο, το οποίο διατηρεί ένα μεγάλο κομμάτι των τειχών του. Το 1ο Διεθνές Τουρνουά Διδυμοτείχου “Αγίου Πνεύματος” θα...

You might have heard from your coach that rooks and bishops coordinate very well with each other or that queen and knight perform well together. What is the best attacking formation that you can produce by coordinating your different pieces? Well you might have guessed right that I am going to talk about a typical […]

Hikaru Nakamura is again sitting out the U.S. Championship, so Gata Kamsky will be a strong favorite in this 12 player round robin tournament, starting tomorrow - Wednesday - at 1 p.m. local time in St. Louis (= 2 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CET). If Kamsky makes good on his threat to quit chess when he turns 40, this will be his last time playing in the championship and the end of an era in U.S. chess. Most...

The new portal Chess24 has been putting out some interesting articles lately, of which I will highlight three. First, there is this article on the lack of bids for the Carlsen-Anand rematch. It does a nice job of listing some of the (mutually compossible) reasons there have yet to be any bids, the just-passed deadline notwithstanding. The other two articles also touch on the pending rematch...

U.S. Senate passes resolution days before the start of the nation’s most prestigious tournaments St. Louis, May 6, 2014 – On the eve of hosting the most prestigious chess tournaments in the nation, St. Louis received national recognition from the United States Senate, which passed an official resolution late Monday night naming St. Louis the [...]

The reigning TCEC champion Komodo, modification 3157, catches up on Stockfish 300414. The latter has been leading TCEC Season 6 – Stage 4 for a long time, but Komodo caught up in the twelfth round, defeating Critter 1.6a. Thus, Komodo and Stockfish share first place with 7.5/12 points each, but Houdini 4 is close enough [...]

The 32nd International Chess Open in the Principality of Liechtenstein will take place on 23-31st May, 2014, at the Gemeindesaal Triesen. The tournament will be held under the aegis of S.D. Erbprinz Alois von und zu Liechtenstein. The prizes in the main Open event will be: 1st – CHF 2’000, 2nd – CHF 1’500, 3rd [...]

The 1st Iasi Open is scheduled to take place from 10th to 18th May, 2014 at Palas Mall, in the city of Iasi, known as the cultural capital of Romania. The organizers provide a hefty prize fund of 25 000€. The tournament will be split into 3 categories: - Open “A” – a 9 round [...]

Η κλήρωση για τον πρώτο γύρο του κυπέλλου ανέδειξε τα παρακάτω ζευγάρια Ακαδημία των Σπορ - Προμηθέας Ε.Α.Π. - Ν.Ε.Π. Ρίο- ΕΣ Αιγιάλειας Στον Δεύτερο Γύρο προκρίνονται άνευ αγώνος οι ομάδες: Άγιος Βασίλειος, Πατραϊκός...

The organizers of the Norway Chess 2014 super-tournament have announced that the world’s top junior Anish Giri from Netherlands completes the field of ten players. Last week Simen Agdestein qualified for the event by defeating Jon Ludvig Hammer in a match that was broadcasted on national television. Earlier announced players are World Champion Magnus Carlsen, [...]

Lublin Chess Club, in collaboration with Lublin City and Polish Chess Federation, organizes the 6th edition of Lublin Union Memorial, Poland-Ukraine match, that will take place from 6th to 11th May, 2014, at the Crown Tribunal (3rd floor), in Lublin, Poland. The tournament format is a Scheveningen System 4 rounds X 2 (classic and rapid [...]