Annual Survey 2007

31 December is the day for looking back and we’re going to do the same over here, because it’s kind of a tradition already. It was a fine one, this first ChessVibes year. Yes, first, because the first thing we did in 2007 was throwing the old name Doggers-schaak in the bin and replace it for the now familiar and trusted ChessVibes. Back then, we couldn’t expect what 2007 would bring… full story »

Merijn van Delft wins Weihnachts Open

ChessVibes-editor IM Merijn van Delft has won first prize in the Weihnachts Open tournament that was held 27-30 December in Hamburg. (Yes, there are still tournaments without world class players!) After a convincing first half, a couple of draws in the later rounds sufficed for the first place. IM Michael Kopylov came second, while outsider Christian Michna surprisingly finished third. Yours truly couldn’t make any difference to all this, and had to settle for a grey place in the outback of the tournament. full story »

Alexander Morozevich and Tatiana Kosintseva Russian Champion

Alexander Morozevich and Tatiana Kosintseva are the new Russian Champions. At the end Morozevich won the title convincingly after all, since Grischuk, who had passed Tomashevsky on the list in round 10, drew against Svidler while Morozevich finished the tournament with his 7th victory, bringing his final score on 8 out of 11. Kosintseva won the women tournament on tiebreak after finishing shared first with Tairova, Ovod and Korbut. full story »

New FIDE ratings: Kramnik and Anand share 1st

The new FIDE ratings have just been published at the FIDE website. World champion Viswanathan Anand is topping the list alone, with a rating of 2803. Magnus Carlsen is no longer a talent, he’s the 5th best player in the world. full story »

Hastings starts with many upsets (2 updates!)

Reports on the first two rounds by Steve Giddins have been added!

Hastings, the oldest chess tournament in the world still running, began with many upsets on the top boards yesterday. In the first round, first seed Vadim Malakhatko (2596) immediately went down, against Sebastien Bogner (2383). The GMs Chatalbashev, Pavlovic, V. Georgiev, Jones and Flear had to split their points. The ten-round Swiss paired open group lasts till Januart 6 and is part of the much bigger 83rd Hastings Chess Congress. full story »

Weekly Endgame Study (51)

Every Saturday an endgame study is published at ChessVibes, selected by IM Yochanan Afek: player, trainer, endgame study composer and writer. A week later the solution is published. Good luck with the instructional occupation of solving a study! full story »

Morozevich loses, Tomashevsky half point behind

It had to go wrong at some point. Today, and with the White pieces, the steam locomotive called Morozevich was put to a halt by Dreev. Moro probably played for a win too long, and this is only to his credit of course. After defeating Amonatov, Tomashevsky has narrowed the gap with the leader to a half point and so the last two rounds of the Russian Championships will be quite tense. Tairova leads the women section, also by a half point. New fragments. full story »

Vallejo Pons leads Pamplona

It’s already five round olds, the tournament that’s going on right now in the Basque town of Pamplona - Northern-Spain that is. The town makes the news every year because of all those bulls running through the narrow streets, during the San-Fermín Festival. “It’s mainly popular with (often drunk) young men who jump among them to show off their bravado”, Wikipedia writes. This week eight chess players are showing off their bravado on the 64 squares and thus far local hero Francisco “Paco” Vallejo Pons is most successful, with 3.5 out of 5. full story »

Morozevich wins SIX in a row

Just when I wrote that no Mexico participant was dominating yet at the Russian Championship Superfinal, Alexander Morozevich was busy proving me wrong. After his slow start (0.5 out of 2) he won five games in a row, against Tomashevsky, Rychagov, Sakaev, Timofeev and Grischuk, and it’s no surprise that he’s now leading the field with a magnificent 5.5 out of 7, a full point clear of Tomashevsky; Grischuk is third with 4 out of 7. Tairova and Korbut share the lead in the women section with the same score as Morozevich. New game fragments. Update: Morozevich also beat Svidler with Black today! SIX in a row! - This game has been added. full story »

NEW: Khalifman reaches the Sveshnikov (Part 10)

Alexander Khalifman’s repertoire series Opening for White According to Anand has reached the Sveshnikov Sicilian in Part 10.

Why is this series so successful? It is the combination of two things: the quality of the analysis and the accessibility of the explanations.

Look at what Grandmaster Steingrimsson had to say about this Part 10 in a recent issue of Chess Today:

“The quality and the amount of original analysis in this book is amazing and it sets a new standard for chess authors.”

If you play what Khalifman recommends you will not be surprised by simple refutations. That is why masters use these books. But what about club players?

Khalifman is a brilliant teacher, and points out the essence of all important positions and explains themes and plans in a very accessible way. He always summarizes conclusions.

So, these books are great for improving players as well. Please have a look here.

We are, by the way, stocking all previous 9 parts of Opening for White Acoording to Anand as well.

New In Chess wish you all the best for 2008!

Interview with Garry Kasparov (Part 2)

As promised, today the second part of Gert Devreese’s interview with Garry Kasparov. This part is about Kasparov’s chess career and especially about the matches against Karpov and Kramnik. It hasn’t been published anywhere before. Enjoy! full story »

Interview with Garry Kasparov (Part 1)

For everybody who’s looking for a good read during Christmas, we have a special treat. Chess journalist Gert Devreese had an interview with Garry Kasparov in april this year. After he saw our article on Kasparov’s simul in Belgium, Gert made the interview available for ChessVibes too, and it has not lost its topicality. Today part 1 of the interview, which was published before in the Belgian newspaper De Standaard. It is about Kasparov’s political career but also for example about his wife and kids. Tomorrow you can read the part about Kasparov’s chess career (which wasn’t published anywhere before). Enjoy! full story »

Banikas and Ernst lead in Groningen

“Nothing goes above Groningen” is the literal translation of a well-known saying in The Netherlands. The capital of the most northern Dutch province is also called Groningen, where this year the traditional december tournament is organised for the 44th time. Nothing goes above Banikas and Ernst, who will be leading the Christmas rest day with 3.5 out of 4. The level of the tournament is higher than in recent years and the organisers managed to bring together an interesting field: world junior champion (and national champion) Adly from Egypt, Dutch GMs Ernst, Nijboer and Reinderman and almost the complete Olympiad team from Greece: GMs Banikas, Halkias and Mastrovasilis. A photo report. full story »

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