Online chess community where you can play chess, learn strategies and tactics, read chess news, see book reviews, find rules & tips, get free downloads, and more! http://www.chess.com/ 2007 Chess.com The Chess World Cup gets underway on the 21 November in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia.  The opening ceremony is being held today. In recent years, the Chess World Cup has become a regular qualifying event in the WCC cycle, even though the cycle itself... http://www.chess.com/news/chess-world-cup-2009-1553 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:22:46 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/chess-world-cup-2009-1553 Magnus Carlsen is the World Blitz Champion after a strong performance on the final day which saw him extend his lead over Vishy Anand to three points at the close of play. A win by Carlsen over Anand in round 38 virtually sealed the victory for t... http://www.chess.com/news/carlsen-is-world-blitz-champion-8928 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:11:18 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/carlsen-is-world-blitz-champion-8928 The second day of the World Blitz Championship in Moscow saw Magnus Carlsen move narrowly ahead of Vishy Anand to take the lead on 21 out of a possible 28 points. Anand lies just a single point back on 20/28 and Sergei Karjakin had a strong day t... http://www.chess.com/news/world-blitz-championship-day2-9946 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:54:03 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/world-blitz-championship-day2-9946 Now that the serious business of the 2009 Tal Memorial is finished in Moscow, the players can relax and have some fun in the World Blitz Championship. That's the theory anyway, but in practice a world title is still a world title, and these super... http://www.chess.com/news/world-blitz-championship---day-1-6560 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:56:40 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/world-blitz-championship---day-1-6560 So Vladimir Kramnik won the 2009 Tal Memorial with a hugely impressive performance.  He clearly seems determined to prove a point after his loss to Vishy Anand in their WCC match. However, another headline from the event is that Magnus Carlsen h... http://www.chess.com/news/carslen-tops-unofficial-ratings-9898 Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:06:36 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/carslen-tops-unofficial-ratings-9898 The final round of the Tal Memorial is currently underway in Moscow.  There are live broadcasts here and here.  Webcam pictures and Russian commentary can be found here. Svidler and Gelfand are first to finish.   Aronian beats Anand, so it'... http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---final-round-live-7895 Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:16:26 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---final-round-live-7895 Magnus Carlsen finally sprang to life in the penultimate round of the Tal Memorial in Moscow. After a subdued performance while fighting illness throughout the tournament, Carlsen played 1.e4 against Ponomariov and proceeded to utterly destroy th... http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---round-8-8388 Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:27:25 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---round-8-8388 Round 7 of the Tal Memorial was a quieter affair, with the games generally rather less inspiring than the tournament has been to date. Nonetheless, there was a great fight between Ivanchuk and Gelfand, where the popular Ukranian came out on top.Â... http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---round-7-3530 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:51:42 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---round-7-3530 Vladimir Kramnik once again claimed sole first place after round six of the Tal Memorial in Moscow.  His scalp today was former FIDE champ Ruslan Ponomariov. Vishy Anand only drew in his encounter with the young pretender, Magnus Carlsen, who is... http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---round-6-8743 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:33:46 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---round-6-8743 After yesterday's rest day (which incidentally would have been Tal's 73rd birthday), the players got down to business again in round 5 of his memorial tournament in Moscow. Kramnik continued with his more aggressive outlook with the black pieces ... http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---round-5-4644 Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:15:58 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---round-5-4644 Both the Junior (under 20) and Senior (60 plus) World Chess Championships recently took place in Argentina and Italy respectively.  The junior championship was won by 19-year old French GM Vachier Maxime-Lagrave (pictured) with 10.5/13 on a tie ... http://www.chess.com/news/juniorsenior-world-champions-9829 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:56:11 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/juniorsenior-world-champions-9829 Vladimir Kramnik seems to have undergone a dramatic change in style at the Tal Memorial in Moscow!  In round four he scored another victory to take an undisputed lead going into the first and only rest day tomorrow. Kramnik's victim was Peter Sv... http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial--round-4-7810 Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:53:07 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial--round-4-7810 At last some decisive games at the Tal Memorial in Moscow!  The quality has been very high so far, but there's nothing like some blood on the board to raise the pulse rate! Fittingly, it was world champion Anand who was first to bag a victory, p... http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---round-3-5298 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:38:20 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---round-3-5298 There were more fascinating clashes in round two at the Tal Memorial in Moscow, but still no decisive games.  It can only be a matter of time before the equilibrium is disturbed, and someone breaks from the pack. With a field this strong, it's n... http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---round-2-1832 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:04:04 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---round-2-1832 There were no decisive results in the first round of the Tal Memorial in Moscow, but it was a close run thing in several games, notably the clash between Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik. Despite Carlsen having the advantage of the white piece... http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---round-1-2029 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:46:17 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial---round-1-2029 The 2009 Tal Memorial tournament in Moscow runs from 5-14 November and features almost all the top players in the world today. It's very rare for such a powerful line-up to be assembled and the event promises to be one of the strongest chess comp... http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial-in-moscow-8877 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:08:57 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/tal-memorial-in-moscow-8877 On the second day of their rapid match, Vishy Anand (pictured) comfortably won both games against former champion Anatoly Karpov, to emerge the victor by 3.5-0.5. No-one doubts the heart and passion that the great Anatoly Karpov has for chess, bu... http://www.chess.com/news/anand-beats-karpov-35-05-8120 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:04:52 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/anand-beats-karpov-35-05-8120 The latest official bi-monthly FIDE rating list has been published, and Veselin Topalov (pictured) maintains his position at #1 in the rankings, with Magnus Carlsen snapping at his heels in the #2 spot. Carlsen's dominant performance in Nanjing s... http://www.chess.com/news/fide-rating-list-nov-09-3315 Sun, 01 Nov 2009 09:25:31 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/fide-rating-list-nov-09-3315 Vishy Anand took the lead against Anatoly Karpov in the first games of their rapid match, in Corsica.  Anand won with the white pieces in game one, but Karpov held a draw with his turn with the white pieces in game two. The rate of play is 15 m... http://www.chess.com/news/anand-leads-karpov-15-05-3458 Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:02:18 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/anand-leads-karpov-15-05-3458 At the European Team Chess Championships in Serbia, Russia held the lead going into the final round, but were dramatically pipped to the Gold by Azerbaijan in a thrilling end to the event. A match win for Russia against their last round opponents... http://www.chess.com/news/azerbaijan-win-gold-6268 Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:07:32 -0700 http://www.chess.com/news/azerbaijan-win-gold-6268