Smeets and Stellwagen in Corus A

The organizers of the 71st Corus Chess Tournament have invited the young Dutch GMs Daniel Stellwagen and Jan Smeets for the Grandmaster Group A in 2009. The other players who have yet confirmed their participation are Aronian, Carlsen, Ivanchuk, Kamsky, Karjakin, Morozevich, Movsesian, Radjabov and Van Wely. full story »

FIDE: Lviv it will be (UPDATE)

Last Friday the money wasn’t there yet, and the issue would be discussed during the Presidential Board meeting this weekend. As it turns out, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is offering his own wallet once and again, to guarantee the Kamsky-Topalov prize fund. full story »

Shirov speaks (3RD UPDATE)

After many months, FIDE still hasn’t been able to confirm details around the Kamsky-Topalov match, and one of many who’ve lost their patience, is Alexei Shirov. The World Cup finalist says that by now he should be replacing Kamsky. Updates with comment by FIDE and by team Kamsky. full story »

This weekend: Dos Hermanas

This weekend, the famous 4-player rapid tournament in Dos Hermanas takes place. In this year’s edition, Veselin Topalov, Alexei Shirov, Judit Polgar and Francisco Vallejo Pons will play. A nice event to follow live. full story »

Participants Sofia 2008 made public

Yesterday the Mtel Masters’ press officer sent us a press release in which the participants of the supertournament in Sofia (7-18 May) were made public. This year Veselin Topalov, Ivan Cheparinov, Teimour Radjabov, Levon Aronian, Vassily Ivanchuk and Bu Xiangzhi are not allowed to offer a draw in the Bulgarian capital. Note that this tournament is part of the first Grand Slam, just like Corus. full story »

Anand-Kramnik in Bonn, Germany

Breaking News: in a press release United Event Promotion (UEP) today announced that the 12-game World Championship Match between World Champion Viswanathan Anand and challenger Vladimir Kramnik will take place 11-30 October 2008, in the National Art Gallery in Bonn, Germany. full story »

8 players from World Top-100 in Corus B

The strength of the three GM groups of the yearly Corus Chess Tournament is unparalleled and so the line-up for their B and C groups is usually as interesting and impressive as the one for the A group. For the C-list we have to wait till after the Cultural Village Tournament (19–28 November 2007 in Wijk aan Zee), where the winner qualifies, but today the participants of the Corus Chess Tournament B group 2008 have been announced. full story »

Corus again stronger than ever

The organizers of the Corus Chess Tournament again succeeded in bringing together a stronger participants list than ever before. In the Grandmaster group A of the 70th edition, 11-27 January 2008, not only the fresh world champion Anand plays but also the numbers 2, 3, 4 and 6 of the WCC in Mexico. (The organizers state, just like the Mexico organizers, that it will be the “strongest tournament in history” but that’s questionable.) full story »

Two ChessVibes editors fired on the spot

ChessVibes editors GM Erwin L’Ami and IM Merijn van Delft, both currently participating in the Open Dutch Championships in Dieren, were fired on the spot today. The direct cause is the supposed cheating by Erwin L’Ami during the first and second round, and an incredible story by Merijn van Delft about his stay in Amsterdam last week end.

full story »

Participants Mtel announced

Update 27 March, 23.00 CET: the tournament website of Mtel is now online!

In a press release the participants of the Mtel Masters 2007 have been announced. Six strong GMs will play in the tournament that starts May 9 in Sofia. The chess fans will see the no. 1 in the world ranking (in May the no. 2) Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria, 2783), the European Champion for 2005 Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (Romania, 2689), the former World Junior Champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan, 2754), the two World Championship finalists Gata Kamsky (USA, 2705) and Michael Adams (UK, 2735), as well as the young Indian hope Krishnan Sasikiran (IND, 2700). full story »

No Amsterdam Chess Tournament this year

A minute ago the ChessVibes editorial team wiped away a tear. The reason was a press release that we received: for this year the Amsterdam Chess Tournament (ACT) is canceled, because of insufficient financial means. Both amateurs and strong grandmasters always mention The Netherlands, together with Spain, as one of the best chess countries in the world. Despite this unfortunately we can’t manage to create a long-term open tournament in our capital. But perhaps we’re too negative now, since the ACT organisers say they have good hope for an ACT next year. We hope the same! full story »