Review: The Giants of Power Play

Do you like to watch porn? Sorry, different question. Do you like feel-good movies? Many people don’t like to admit this, perhaps because they know the world is really a very cruel place, but I think there can’t be much wrong with feeling good about life from time to time. Similary, it can’t hurt occasionally reading a chess book that makes you feel that chess is a really simple game, full of great opportunities and combinations waiting to be executed, rather than a frustratingly difficult enterprise full of failures and broken careers. Read more

Top GMs in French top league (UPDATE)

Last weekend the French Team Championship (top 16) concluded its preliminary phase, in which two groups of eight teams fought for places in the play-offs which will be held at the end of this month. Several 2700+ players came to France, some of them travelling directly from Nalchik: Bacrot and Svidler. We’ve put together a selection of interesting game fragments for replay. Update: the spectacular Bacrot – Vachier-Lagrave added. Read more

Review: Kasparov – How his predecessors misled him about chess

Every chess player grows up learning combinations that work. As a kid, you learn to ’spot the combo’ quickly and you’re told that you will profit from this knowledge ever after. There’s hundreds of books that are written according to this method. But in real life, sadly,¬†combinations¬†often do not work at all.¬†Where are the books written about this phenomenon?¬†Now, we have one. Read more

Review: How Chess Games are Won and Lost

There are many excellent chess books on the market. For the serious chess student, it’s not always easy to choose between them. Sometimes, it’s worth picking up a book by an author you don’t know yet. You may be pleasantly surprised. Read more

Beauty in Chess III: Olympic highlights

Another Olympiad is over and plenty of interesting games have been played. So many, in fact, that one hardly knows what to look at. In the open section alone there were more than 3000 games. Are you feeling overwhelmed by this number? Then have a look at the following selection of great games! Read more

[lang_nl]Interview met Garry Kasparov (deel 2)[/lang_nl][lang_en]Interview with Garry Kasparov (Part 2)[/lang_en]

[lang_nl]Zoals beloofd vandaag het tweede deel van het interview van schaakjournalist Gert Devreese met Garry Kasparov. Dit deel gaat over Kasparovs schaakcarri?ɬ®re, waarin vooral de matches tegen Karpov en Kramnik aan bod komen. Het is nog nergens eerder gepubliceerd. Veel leesplezier![/lang_nl][lang_en]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![/lang_en] Read more

[lang_nl]Baden-Baden weer koploper[/lang_nl][lang_en]Baden-Baden leader again[/lang_en]

[lang_nl]Voor de winterstop inging, heeft landskampioen OSC Baden-Baden dit weekend met drie andere clubs hun gemiste derde en vierde ronde van de Bundesliga ingehaald. Daarmee werd orde op zake gesteld, want met overwinningen op Turm Trier, SC 1950 Remagen en Godesberger SK pakte het thuisteam, met Peter Svidler op bord ?ɬ©?ɬ©n, de koppositie van de Duitse competitie.[/lang_nl][lang_en]Before the “winterstop” started, this weekend title holder OSC Baden-Baden and three other clubs catched up with the other teams, and played their third and fourth rounds of the Bundesliga. After this the situation in the German national league is back to normal, because with victories against Turm Trier, SC 1950 Remagen and Godesberger SK the home team, with Peter Svidler on board one, took the lead.[/lang_en] Read more

Interviews Wojtaszek & FtacnikInterviews Wojtaszek & Ftacnik

[lang_nl]Landskampioen Baden-Baden heeft dit Bundesliga-weekend kunnen afronden met opnieuw een kleine winst: 4,5-3,5 tegen Hamburg, dat trouwens op de eerste drie borden een 2-1-overwinning boekte. Net als McShane hield Wojtaszek wereldkampioen Anand op remise (en hij vertelde voor de camera iets meer), Bacrot kwam er niet doorheen tegen ‘Gusti’ en Vallejo Pons verloor opnieuw, dit keer werd hij zelfs matgezet door Ftacnik (die ons ook meer over zijn partij vertelt).[/lang_nl][lang_en]National champion Baden-Baden finished their Bundesliga weekend with another small victory: 4,5-3,5 against Hamburg, who actually won on the first three boards 2-1. Like McShane, Wojtaszek held world champion Anand on a draw (and he told us more about it before the camera), Bacrot couldn’t break “Gusti’s” resistance and Vallejo Pons lost again; this time he was mated by Ftacnik (who also tells us more about the game in a video).[/lang_en] Read more

Interview IM Herman Grooten

[lang_nl]Vorige week, op het Essent Toernooi in Hoogeveen, won IM Herman Grooten met zwart op briljante wijze van GM Tiger Hillarp Persson. Ik vroeg Herman zijn prachtige slotcombinatie te tonen en dat deed hij met plezier. De schaaktrainer voegde er vervolgens nog wat nuttige adviezen aan toe.[/lang_nl][lang_en]Last week, at the Essent Tournament in Hoogeveen, IM Herman Grooten defeated GM Tiger Hillarp Persson with Black, playing a brilliant combination. I asked Herman to show the final part of this game before the camera, and he was happy to do so. Afterwards the chess trainer adds some useful advice.[/lang_en] Read more

[lang_nl]Drie keer Anand[/lang_nl][lang_en]Three times Anand[/lang_en]

[lang_nl]Na afloop van de persconferentie vond Anand het natuurlijk prima om extra verzoeken van journalisten in te willigen. Eerst toonde hij uitgebreid de achterliggende pointes van zijn eindspel met Morozevich aan de Russische televisie, vervolgens beantwoordde hij (trouw als altijd) de vragen van Vijay Kumar voor miljoenen Indi?ɬ´rs en ten slotte had ik ook nog een klein interviewtje met Vishy. Alle drie nu online.[/lang_nl][lang_en]After the press conference Anand was happy to answer the many extra requests by journo’s. First he showed the hidden ideas behind his ending with Morozevich to the Russian television, then he answered Vijay Kumar’s questions for millions of fans in India en after that I also had a short interview with Vishy. All three now online.[/lang_en] Read more

Next Page »