After the conclusion of the Chennai Grandmaster Open and FIDE World Chess Championship Match, the action is moving 500 km north to Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh state. The 2nd Hyderabad Open International Grandmasters Chess Tournament 2013 is taking place from 25th November to 3rd December at the Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium in Yousufguda, [...]

The closing ceremony of the FIDE World Chess Championship in Chennai is going to start at 12:00 local time today. It will be held at the Ball Room of Hotel Hyatt Regency, with the presence of the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu Ms. J Jayalalithaa and the FIDE President Mr Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. The ceremony will mark [...]

In a previous article, I analyzed my win against a chess engine called Colossus. That game was one of three games against Colossus that I played that night. I am not sure of what order I played those games in, but here is one of my two losses to Colossus. In this game, both sides […]

Μεγάλες μάχες και ανατροπές γίνονται στο εσωτερικό πρωτάθλημα των Ιωαννίνων. Η μεγαλύτερη από αυτές ήταν η νίκη του νεαρού Χρήστου Θεοδώρου Βαλεντίνου έναντι του πολύ έμπειρου Γιώργου Βόβα. Ακολουθεί η παρτίδα τους.PGN

Yesterday I wrote up a sort of micro-review of the second edition of Dvoretsky's Analytical Manual, noting that I had written a full review on a now-defunct version of my blog. Happily, Freddie Jones pointed me to my old review on the Internet Wayback Machine (many thanks!), and here it is:  _____________________________________________________________________________   Mark...

During the FIDE World Chess Championship match in Chennai, the Continental President for Americas Mr Jorge Vega spoke about the forthcoming FIDE elections in Tromso 2014. The first topic were developments in the American continent in the past three years. Jorge Vega: It is necessary to draw the line and make a balance. With the [...]

Interview with Orrin "Checkmate" Hudson, founder of Be Someone project

Ο Σπύρος Σκέμπρης την Πέμπτη (28/11) το απόγευμα από τις 7.30μ.μ. στο Σ.Ο. ΣΑΧ.Αναλύουμε παρτίδες του ίδιου και συζητάμε σκακιστικά.Κόστος συμμετοχής 5 ευρώΠληροφορίες και δηλώσεις συμμετοχής  Τ.2310866410 και skakistes@gmail.com

The 23rd FIDE Individual World Senior Championships 2013 were held on 11-24th November, 2013, at the conference centre Tamaris in Grand Hotel 4.Opatijska Cvijeta in Opatija, Croatia. The Championships were organized by the Chess Club “Rijeka” in agreement with FIDE and Croatian Chess Federation, under the auspices of the Mountain-littoral County, the City of Rijeka [...]

Η ΝΕΠ διοργανώνει τουρνουά για σκακιστές και σκακίστριες ηλικίας έως 16 ετών το διάστημα 8/12 - 22/12. Θα δοθούν κύπελλα και μετάλλια στου νικητές κάθε ηλικιακής κατηγορίας . Δηλώσεις συμμετοχής μέχρι μέχρι το Σάββατο 7/12/2013...

Norwegian Grandmaster Leif Erlend Johannessen about the FIDE World Championship Match 2013 with special comment on the key victory in the 9th game. Video by the renowned producer Vijay Kumar.

The 27th Belgrade International Open Championship (Belgrade Trophy) will be held from 24th November to 2nd December in Obrenovac, near Belgrade. The tournament is valid for international norms for FIDE titles. The first Belgrade International Tournament was held in 1948 as a 20-players round robin. In various forms and with several breaks, the tournament continued [...]

This is a recent example of a theme, but I could show you very many more from my database. Many children only seem to know one checkmate: that which is often, under the influence of Mike Basman, known as the Lawn Mower. You know the drill: checkmate with two rooks or queen and rook on […]

Back on the right track. The regular season concludes next week with a big road game against the Stanford Cardinal. Win that one and the season can be counted a good one, despite the unnecessary loss a couple of weeks ago. Season record: 8-3. Maestro, strike up the band!