Ivanchuk doesn’t win, Topalov does

Ivanchuk’s winning streak in Sofia came to an end today: Radjabov held him to a draw. Topalov defeated Aronian again and moved within a point of the leader. Cheparinov beat Bu with Black. full story »

In Sofia!

ChessVibes is in Sofia! Yesterday I arrived at the Bulgarian capital to cover the last five rounds of the M-Tel Masters. Will Ivanchuk consolidate, or is he still hungry? Will Topalov catch him? We’ll wait and see! full story »

Four share win at Limburg Open

GM Nijboer, GM Jones, IM Swinkels and IM Klimov have won an extraordinary warm second edition of the ENCI Limburg Open. full story »

Ivanchuk beats them all

The story isn’t really changing but nonetheless getting more exceptional by the day: in the fifth round Vassily Ivanchuk also beat Levon Aronian and this way he already made history by winning the first leg of the M-Tel Masters with a 100% score. full story »

Ivanchuk on 4/4

And he did it again: Vassily Ivanchuk is now on 4/4 in Sofia after he beat Cheparinov today. This way he extended his lead since Radjabov-Topalov and Bu Xiangzhi-Aronian both ended in a draw. full story »

Four leaders at Limburg Open

After three rounds, only four players still have a 100% score at the ENCI Limburg Open: IM Robin Swinkels, IM Sergey Klimov, GM Vladimir Epishin and GM Friso Nijboer. We have a video introducing the tournament. full story »

Ivanchuk wins again, and so does Topalov

In the third round of the Mtel Masters Ivanchuk scored his third point; his opponent Bu Xiangzhi blundered already on move seven. Topalov beat Cheparinov and Radjabov-Aronian was drawn. full story »

Ivanchuk on 2/2

Vassily Ivanchuk is the only player on 2 /2 in Sofia after he beat Veselin Topalov today. Bu Xiangzhi-Radjabov and Aronian-Cheparinov were drawn. full story »

Berg & Kotronias favorites in Limburg

This weekend ChessVibes will be covering the 2nd Limburg Open tournament, which involves almost 400 participants and no less than 25 titled players. GMs Emanuel Berg & Vassilios Kotronias are the favorites. full story »

Good start Mtel Masters

The organizers of the Mtel Masters in Sofia couldn’t have hoped for a better start of their 2008 tournament. Both Topalov and Cheparinov won; against Aronian and Bu respectively. Ivanchuk defeated Radjabov. full story »

And then there was Mtel already

Baku 2008 isn’t over yet and the third Grand Slam tournament of 2008 already starts: the Mtel Masters. Cheparinov and Radjabov fly from Baku to Sofia and face Aronian, Topalov, Ivanchuk, and Bu Xiangzhi. First round tomorrow. full story »

R12: Gashimov beats Grischuk

And then, after a few less interesting days, the penultimate round in Baku was suddenly full of excitement, with great openings, great fights and great… results!? full story »

R11: Wang Yue joins Grischuk again

This morning it was nice and sunny again in Baku. However, ain’t no sunshine for Etienne Bacrot, who today played probably the worst move ever in his entire career, against Ernesto Inarkiev. The only other decisive result was Wang Yue-Svidler (1-0) and so the Chinese GM has joined Alexander Grischuk once again in the tournament standings. full story »

Tiviakov & Lahno European Champions

Yesterday Sergey Tiviakov won the European Chess Championship in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Tiviakov was leading with 7 other players and in the last round he was the only player to win his game. Kateryna Lahno finished clear first in the women’s section. full story »

A rainy day in Baku

It was raining cats, dogs and half points today in Baku. Six, to be exact. When I took this photo a cheerful Radjabov said: “Romantic isn’t it?” but later he would be the only player to lose his game today, against Cheparinov. full story »

Exciting final phase EU Ch

With eight players sharing first place, the European Championship in Plovdiv (Bulgaria) is going into an exciting final phase. Today is the last round, tomorrow there will be tiebreaks. full story »

Tiger went hunting

Yesterday an excelling Tiger Hillarp Persson clinched a smashing victory at the 16th Sigeman & Co tournament in Malmö, Sweden. The 8th seeded Swedish GM finished clear first with 7.5/9. full story »

Grischuk back in sole lead

By beating his compatriot Ernesto Inarkiev, Alexander Grischuk has taken sole lead again today in Baku, since Gashimov and Wang Yue both drew their games, against Cheparinov and Bacrot respectively. full story »

Inarkiev & Mamedyarov win

After yesterday’s drama we witnessed a much more quiet round today in Baku. Five draws didn’t change anything in the top of the standings. Inarkiev avoided timetrouble and beat Navara in a good game. Mamedyarov defeated Karjakin, who blundered a pawn in the early middlegame. full story »

Gashimov beats Kamsky, joins leaders

In the best round so far in Baku, Gashimov beat Kamsky and joined the leaders Grischuk and Wang Yue, who drew against each other. Updated report with videos. full story »

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