In a recent tournament game, I knew I was going to play Black, and had a plan in mind before the game started. I find that I play better when I’ve decided on a theme before a game even begins. In this case, I had been looking at some games by the late GM Vugar […]

This is the final installment of a seven-part series on Alexander Alekhine by Jeremy Silman over on chess.com. The series is interesting for its chess content, but this particular part is more important for its discussion of the anti-Semitic articles written by Alekhine during the Second World War. Silman's discussion is thoughtful and charitable, and to my mind goes a long way towards clearing...

His confidence is back, or so the ex-world champion and new challenger Viswanathan Anand says in this interview. Confidence by itself won't be enough to unseat Magnus Carlsen, but without it I don't think he'd have a chance. So it, together with his newly regained good form and his always excellent preparation, ought to give him better chances this November than he had going into the match last...

Here's a quick note about two recent rapid tournaments - there has been some high-level action outside of the Candidates. (Not much, maybe, but some.) First, Vassily Ivanchuk won the Latvian Railway Rapid Open with an incredible 13 out of 14. He won his first nine games, drew two, and then won his last three to win the tournament by three full points. Second, Alexei Shirov and Yuriy Kuzubov were...

Η τελική φάση του 26ου Πανελλήνιου Ατομικού Πρωταθλήματος Μαθητών – Μαθητριών και του 12ου Πανελλήνιου Ομαδικού Πρωταθλήματος Μαθητών-Μαθητριών για το 2014 θα γίνει στην Ερέτρια, στο ξενοδοχείο Eretria Village Resort, από τις 25...

Francis Best and Michael Bukojemski did a fine job, creating a chess filled day beginning with a blitz tournament before I began my lecture. The original proposal was that I would show my games with Andreikin and Caruana from last year’s Dortmund event, but I was a bit concerned that 2 Berlin variations where the [...]

Τα Aτομικά Νεανικά Πρωταθλημάτα Αττικής ( -8 -10 -12 -14 -16 ετών) θα πραγματοποιηθούν απο 11-16 Απριλίου 2014 (διπλός γύρος Κυριακή 13/4) με διοργανωτές τον ΑΟ Τρεις Αστέρες και την ΕΣΣΝΑ υπό την αιγίδα του ΟΠΑΝ Δ. Αθηναίων. Χώρως...

Every chess player wants to improve at chess and for that we already have books suggested by coaches, playing games, doing tactical exercises, endgames etc etc. Yet I have observed a few things among the people who are working hard but failed to improve as much as they might have wanted to or deserved. What […]

If you're near Indianapolis this Saturday, April 5, and are available from around 1 to 5 p.m., I'll be giving a brief lecture (around 30 minutes) and then giving a 30-board simul. (Or at least a simul on up to 30 boards.) Here's the data in brief: The event will take place at Game Time, located at 8244 Center Run Drive; Indianapolis, IN 46250. (Store phone # is 317-577-0900.) It's in a strip mall...

This summer in Sicily there will be a nice international chess festival – the 5th “Terre degli Elimi”. It will be one intense chess week in July. Erice is a magic ancient place and in the afternoons the players are free to visit places of incomparable beauty and charm as Segesta, the Egadi Islands, Zingaro, [...]

With Malakhov, Bologan, Shirov, etc.

The Ugra Chess Academy has organized a blitz tournament on 29th March as one of the side events taking place during the FIDE Candidates Tournament. The 9-round Swiss with 80 participants was held at the beautiful Ugra Athletic Stadium. The total prize fund was 2000 EUR, with 200 EUR reserved for the winner. There were [...]

With Vishwanathan Anand having qualified for a rematch for the World Championship, not many people think he has much of a chance. I am one of few who disagree, but I think he needs to do things very differently this time round. First of all let’s think about what happened last time. He went straight […]

Από 22 (Τρίτη του Πάσχα) έως 27 Απριλίου (Κυριακή του Θωμά) θα διεξαχθεί και φέτος στη Θεσσαλονίκη το Εαρινό Τουρνουά των Σκακιστικών Συλλόγων Τριανδρίας. Πέρσι ήταν το 2ο μεγαλύτερο σε αριθμό συμμετεχόντων ατομικό...

Στο Μυθικό σκάκι χρησιμοποιούνται διάφορες συνθήκες που αλλάζουν το παιγνίδι. Η μυθική συνθήκη BackHome (=Πίσω-Στη-Θέση) επινοήθηκε από τον συνθέτη Nicolas Dupont.Ορισμός BackHome: "Αν ένα κομμάτι μπορεί να κινηθεί προς το τετράγωνο...