The variation that brought down Kasparov

British IM John Cox has posed himself the daunting task of writing a book on the infamous Berlin Wall.

And he succeeded: this is the Berlin Wall Bible for some time to come, if only for the organization of the contents: 58 pages on typical Berlin endings, followed by 60 pages on positional themes, and only then the theory of the Berlin Wall is considered, in 184 pages. This is the way to tackle a purely strategic variation like the Berlin Wall!

Queens come off quickly in the main variation of the Berlin Wall, but is it a boring variation? Not really, considering that the position remains dynamic and that even an aggressive player like Topalov uses it from time to time. The Berlin Wall can do more than a making a draw with Kasparov.

Play the Berlin Wall and get well acquainted with its nuances with this splendid manual by John Cox.

Topalov tops new FIDE ratings, now officially

For the first time since January 1 (or rather March 31) 2007, Veselin Topalov is the highest rated player in the world. On the new FIDE rating list, published yesterday, Magnus Carlsen is number 4 and not 3 as in Hans Arild Runde’s live list.
Read more

Russia takes revenge with rapid and… football

After they lost the most important (classical) part of their match against China 26-24, the Russian team took revenge by winning the rapid part and… the football match on the rest day. We’re not sure about the blitz… Read more

Four-way tie for first at SPICE Cup

The 2nd SPICE Cup has finished in a four-way tie for first: Pentala Harikrishna, Alexander Onischuk, Leonid Kritz and Varuzhan Akobian all ended on 5.5 out of 9. Harikrishna had the best tiebreak and received the cup (and a Swiss watch). Read more

Chess is art is chess

On this beautiful Sunday we shouldn’t get too much involved in chess politics. Let’s not forget that chess is also just a beautiful game! An opinion shared by artists around the world. Read more

Weekly Endgame Study (90)

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! Read more

Bulgarian Chess Federation: “Mr Ilymzhinov, please inform us” (UPDATE)

On June 1st, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov personally guaranteed the prize fund for the match Topalov-Kamsky scheduled, for November this year. Since then it has been quiet around this match - a bit too quiet, says Stefan Sergiev, President of the Bulgarian Chess Federation, in an open letter - its translation has been corrected now. Read more

Attacking à la Tarrasch

Siegbert Tarrasch wasn’t exactly known for his attacking games - in those days Rudolf Spielmann was the Last of the Mohicans trying to hold up romantic chess. It’s also not an every day story that Black wins with a beautiful attack using Tarrasch’s Defence, but that’s what happened in round 6 of the SPICE Cup. Read more

Torre’s comeback?

Chess in Asia has been somewhat neglected by Western media, but the region actually deserves more attention and ChessVibes intends to do better. This time it wasn’t the Philippine super talent Wesley So who caught our eye, no, it was his 56-year-old compatriot Eugene Torre, who scored his best result in years. Read more

New & full of opening novelties: Yearbook 88

Yearbook 88 has just arrived, and in this issue of
The Chess Player’s Guide to Opening News you will find,
among much else, answers to urgent questions like:

– What does Carlsen offer White and Black in the Catalan?
– Has Ivanchuk pinpointed White’s weak spot in the Petroff?
– Which novelty revived an ailing Grünfeld line?
– Has Kramnik found the Hedgehog’s Achilles’ Heel?
– What’s the new idea in the King’s Indian Bayonet Attack?
– Is there new hope in the Nimzowitsch Petroff?
– Does the sensational Gajewski Gambit hold up?
– Is Gelfand’s 11.Qb6 still viable in the Najdorf?
– How does Anand fight the fabulous Budapest Gambit in simuls?
– Why does British co-champion Keith Arkell play 1.b4?
– Why does nobody play the right move in the Jaenisch Ruy Lopez?
– And much, much more…

Almasi wins Hungarian Championship

The best of the rest - it’s a title that’s actually worth something in a strong chess country like Hungary. Without Peter Leko and Judit Polgar playing, Zoltan Almasi won the Hungarian Championship. Read more

China beats Russia in classical part

The first part of the China-Russia match, which consisted of five rounds of classical chess, is over. China proved the strongest, but by a small margin: 26-24. In our second report we’ll see that the it were the Russian ladies who prevented a bigger loss. Read more

Anand-Kramnik: half of the tickets sold

Today in exactly three weeks the World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik starts. In a press release the organizers are warning the chess fans that “almost half of the overall 5.000 tickets (for the whole event) are sold.” Read more

Kritz & Mikhalevski lead SPICE Cup

After four rounds GMs Leonid Kritz and Victor Mikhalevski are leading the 2nd SPICE Cup International Invitational Tournament, according to the organizers “the strongest field of chess grandmasters in U.S. round-robin history”. Read more

Milov beats a truncated Rybka

Ever seen a fish without its fins trying to swim? Probably not, but one can imagine it’s not that easy. In a match against an experienced grandmaster, a truncated Rybka was defeated - by a small margin, though. Vadim Milov-poor Rybka: 4½-3½. Read more

China-Russia tied after three rounds

The now traditional country match between China and Russia is already taking place for the fifth time. After three rounds, the score is exactly even: 15-15. The Russian women beat their Chinese opponents in round two to make up for the first-round loss by the Russian men. Read more

Alexandra and I

I was selling books in the windy hallway of De Moriaan in Wijk aan Zee for Chess and Go Shop Het Paard. It was quiet, a regular week day. Read more

Weekly Endgame Study (89)

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! Read more

“If you want to become a stronger player…”

“If you want to become a stronger player, you have to join Pinter’s classes”, is what they say in Hungary.

They are referring to a most remarkable publishing project: the very succesfull 1,000 series, written and assembled by GM Jozsef Pinter.

This series consits of big (but affordable) collections of superb chess training material, mostly in endgames.

Recently, a new title was added, outside the endgame terrain: 1,000 Combinations, grouped by theme, in algabraic notation.

The rest of the series is still available as well:
— 1,000 Queen’s Endings
— 1,000 Minor Piece Endings
— 1,000 Pawn Endings
— 1,000 Endgame Studies
— 1,000 Rook Endings

Jan Werle wins European Union Championship

As a last minute entry to the European Union Championships, 24-year-old Dutch law student Jan Werle scored the best result in his career by far. “I went as a coach for my girlfriend but they convinced me that I should play.” Final report, including a video interview with the winner. Read more

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