Five draws in Moscow

Shirov needed to get rid of that annoying zero behind his name, and he did, against Gelfand. The four other games in the Tal Memorial saw the same results, but these were actually good fights. full story »

Yes, worse was possible

After a tough start yesterday, in the second round the Experience team had to try and regain some confidence with the black pieces. But it only got worse: the Rising Stars beat them 3½-½ today. Two more videos. full story »

Morozevich beats Kramnik, takes sole lead

In the third round of the Tal Memorial, Morozevich played the sharp 7.g4 against Kramnik’s Semi-Slav, started attacking and… won in crushing style. The Muscovite is now leading with 2.5 points. Shirov lost his third game in a row. full story »

NH Chess Tournament R1: Rising Stars-Experience 4-1

In the first round of the NH Chess Tournament, the Rising Stars team made their intentions clear, and the Experience team is warned. All “legends” were playing with the white pieces today, and three of them suffered losses: Korchnoi-Stellwagen 0-1, Jussupow-Caruana 0-1 and Ljubojevic-Wang Yue 0-1. Both Bareev-L’Ami and Agdestein-Cheparinov ended in a draw. full story »

Tal Memorial R2: Kamsky beats Shirov

Perhaps the chess fans were treated a bit too much candy yesterday. In the second round of the Tal Memorial, the players were taking things more slowly, and besides four quiet draws, only one player won: Gata Kamsky beat Alexei Shirov. full story »

Adams wins Staunton Memorial, Wade loses all

With a quick draw against his closest rival Loek van Wely in the final round, Michael Adams secured victory at the 6th Staunton Memorial. 87-year-old Bob Wade lost all his 11 games. full story »

PocketFritz 3: your brand new mobile friend

PocketFritz 3 (which runs on Pocket PC’s) may
be small, but its playing strength is gigantic.

Its estimated elo is 2550, and it has a well-balanced
positional style, spiced up with first-class tactics.

But PocketFRritz 3 it is much more than just the
ultimate mobile playing beast, and brings you:
— direct access to the new, high-speed games database
— an improved & enhanced analyis mode
— a tournament-tested openings book
— a package which includes Hiarcs and Crafty
— superb usability properties
— beautiful screen lay-outs
— 12 hours of chess training.

Enjoyment + professional online access, anywhere = PocketFritz 3

Exciting start Tal Memorial

On the first day of the Tal Memorial, the players showed tremendous fighting spirit. In an excellent first round in Moscow, Kramnik, Morozevich and Ivanchuk won their White games. full story »

Stuart Conquest: “I’ve never ordered tomato juice in a pub before in my life”

Saturday, August 9, 2008 was probably the best day so far in the chess career of GM Stuart Conquest. For the first time, he became Champion of Britain. “I can say that this victory is not only one of my best results, but also one of my proudest.” An interview. full story »

Is it safe to play the Women World Championship? (2ND UPDATE)

Yesterday a number of participants of the upcoming Women World Championship expressed their worries, as the event is supposed to be held August 28 - September 18 in Nalchik, a city in the Caucasus region of southern Russia. Today, FIDE President Ilyumzhinov replied. Update: reply by Boris Kutin. 2nd Update: Georgian players withdraw. full story »

Indian successes at World Juniors

India, the country of world champion Viswanathan Anand, can look forward to a bright chess future. Yesterday Abhijeet Gupta won the World Junior Chess Championship held in Gaziantep, Turkey. Harika Dronavalli clinched the title at the Girls section. full story »

Aronian wins 2nd FIDE Grand Prix in style

In an excellent last round, Levon Aronian became the glorious winner of the 2nd FIDE Grand Prix Tournament in Sochi, Russia. And he did it in style, defeating Alexander Grischuk in a fine positional game. In a crazy game Radjabov beat Karjakin to finish clear second, followed by Wang Yue and Kamsky who share third place. Final report. full story »

Sochi R12: Svidler wins, Aronian retains lead

In a textbook example of endgame play, Svidler won a very nice knight versus bishop ending against Jakovenko. Six other draws in the 12th round meant that Levon Aronian is still in sole lead at the 2nd Grand Prix in Sochi, with one round to go. full story »

Sochi R11: Four wins, Aronian grabs lead

After a huge blunder committed by his opponent Boris Gelfand, Armenian GM Levon Aronian entered the press room with a modest smile. A few hours later it turned out that he’s now the only player on 7/11. full story »

Coming up: Tal Memorial & NH Chess Tournament

The 2nd Grand Prix tournament hasn’t finished yet, but still we think it’s good to warm up the chess fans a bit already for what will be happing next week. In Moscow, 18-30 August, there’s the Tal Memorial, and in Amsterdam, 20-30 August, the NH Chess Tournament. full story »

Sochi R10: 5 wins, 4 leaders

The 10th round of the 2nd Grand Prix Tournament in Sochi was definitely the most spectacular one, with five decisive games, and now we have a shared lead of Aronian, Gashimov, Radjabov and Wang Yue. full story »

Adams and Timman lead at Staunton Memorial

If the pieces are not remembering him enough, there’s always the annual Staunton memorial of course. Adams and Timman had the best start in the 2008 event, and are leading with 2.5 out of 3. full story »

Sochi R9: Wang Yue beats Radjabov, joins lead with Cheparinov

It’s about time to stop mentioning the Beijing Olympics and the Chinese number 8, and start confirming that Wang Yue is just a very strong chess player. Once more he showed fine technique in a bishop ending, and defeated Radjabov to take over the lead. He’s topping the standings with Cheparinov, who easily drew Ivanchuk. full story »

Fundraising Carlsen simul for Dušan Popović

Already in April this year it became known that Serbian GM Dusan Popovic was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure, and is hoping for a transplant soon. Next Monday, August 11th, Magnus Carlsen will play a fundraising simul on ICC to help him. full story »

Sochi R8: Ivanchuk, Kamsky & Wang Yue win

In Chinese culture, 8 (八，捌) is a lucky number because it sounds like the word “prosper” or “wealth” (发 - short for “发财”, Pinyin: fā). It was certainly not a coincidence that the Olympic Games were opened yesterday, and perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence either that Wang Yue scored his first victory in Sochi! full story »

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