Cumnor Chess Club

Ever wanted to know which is the oldest chess club in the world? Well, the answer is the Schachgesellschaft Zürich, founded in 1809. In August the club commemorates its 200th anniversary and it gives everyone the opportunity to take part of the jubilee. You can win a seat in a simul against either Anand, Karpov, Kasparov, Korchnoi, Kramnik, Spassky, Ponomariov or Topalov. full story »

Levon Aronian wins 18th Amber after dramatic last round

Levon Aronian won the 18th Amber tournament after a dramatic last round in Nice today. He had a narrow escape in his blindfold game against Topalov and drew his rapid game quickly to secure victory, since both Anand and Carlsen couldn’t catch him anymore. Just like last year the Armenian grandmaster was the strongest player in the combined tournament of blindfold and rapid chess held in Nice, France. full story »

In a press release the organizers of the 4th FIDE Grand Prix announce their tournament, to be held 14th-29th April 2009 in Nalchik, Russia. Akopian (Armenia), Alekseev (Russia), Aronian (Armenia), Bacrot (France), Eljanov (Ukraine), Gelfand (Israel), Grischuk (Russia), Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Kamsky (USA), Karjakin (Ukraine), Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan), Leko (Hungary), Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) and Svidler (Russia) will play. full story »

information@witneychess.org.uk

The World Championship match between Anand and Topalov will be delayed until spring 2010, and the UEP bid for organizing the Wch cycle 2010-2011 has been accepted by FIDE. In 2011 there will be either Candidates Matches or a Candidates Tournament with Kamsky, the loser of Anand-Topalov, two players from the Grand Prix, the winner of the World Cup, the two highest rated players not already qualified and a player nominated by the organizer. These are the most important decisions made at the FIDE Presidential Board meeting that was held from March 5th to 8th in Istanbul, Turkey. full story »

For the first time in 25 years, London will have a chess tournament with the world’s best players. From December 10 to 17, 2009 a single round-robin with eight players (five world-class grandmasters and three English players) will be held in the capital of the United Kingdom. The tournament boasts a minimum prize fund of € 100,000 and has applied for membership of the Grand Slam. Initiatior Malcolm Pein: “We’re going to focus on the public and the media.” full story »

SOURCE: www.chessvibes.com

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

Sometimes the best books get the worst treatment. It took more than 25 years before an edition of Mikhail Bulgakov’s great novel The Master and Margarita was first published. But this is nothing compared to the 52(!) years it took before Questions of Modern Chess Theory by Isaac Lipnitsky was translated into English. It is now published in a modern edition by Quality Chess. Without exaggeration it’s fair to say that Western chess would have looked totally different, had this book been available earlier. Read more

John Watson is one of the best chess authors around. Currently, he’s writing a series of high-quality opening books, focussing (as always) on understanding and framing the opening in its proper context. I will take a look at the latest volume in his ‘Mastering the Chess Openings’ series, published by Gambit Books, which is about the English Opening. I was especially interested in this part, because I have almost no experience with this opening, yet have always found it extremely fascinating. So what’s in it for people like me? Read more

Kasparov vs Karpov

Contrary to what many people will tell you, the “chess match of the 20th century” was not Fischer-Spassky, Reykjavik 1972. It was Karpov-Kasparov, Moscow 1984. No wait, make that Karpov-Kasparov, Moscow 1984 and 1985. Of course, Fischer’s brilliancy and eccentricity, as well as the political situation between America and the Soviet Union made the Reykjavik match extremely sensational, but from a ”classical drama” point of view, the fight in ‘72 was really too much of a one-man-show. Read more