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 There were two decisive games in the final round of the 2009 London Chess Classic, but neither came in the crucial games that decided the fate of the title. Carslen held an advantage for a long time against Short but almost blew it in a tricky qu... http://www.chess.com/news/carlsen-wins-london-classic-8345 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:36:13 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/carlsen-wins-london-classic-8345 Mickey Adams gave Magnus Carlsen a serious fright in the penultimate round of the London Chess Classic, but opposite coloured bishops were eventually enough to ensure a draw. Adams played a fine game, bravely spurning the opportunity of repeating... http://www.chess.com/news/london-chess-classic-penultimate-round-3963 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:22:26 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/london-chess-classic-penultimate-round-3963 After a rather lifeless four regular time-control games in the 2009 World Cup final between Boris Gelfand and Ruslan Ponomariov, the rapid tie-breaks were as exciting as one would expect. It certainly wasn't easy for Gelfand, who was initially de... http://www.chess.com/news/gelfand-wins-world-cup-1486 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:16:54 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/gelfand-wins-world-cup-1486 In round five of the London Chess Classic, Magnus Carlsen showed his class with a majestic win over Ni Hua to extend his lead and put himself in a commanding position in the tournament with just two rounds to go. Carlsen (pictured, from the offic... http://www.chess.com/news/carlsen-extends-lead-in-london-8919 Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:00:54 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/carlsen-extends-lead-in-london-8919 The final match of the 2009 World Cup will go to rapid tie-breaks after the players remained deadlocked after the last of the four long time-control games. The tiebreaks and closing ceremony will take place tomorrow.  The winner pockets $96,000 ... http://www.chess.com/news/world-cup-final-goes-to-tie-breaks-4898 Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:30:50 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/world-cup-final-goes-to-tie-breaks-4898 It was another day of fierce competition at the London Chess Classic in front of a full house of spectators, but for the first time there were no decisive results.  Hikaru Nakamura put up a strong showing against leader Magnus Carlsen with the b... http://www.chess.com/news/london-chess-classic-round-4-8105 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:00:42 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/london-chess-classic-round-4-8105 Game three of the 2009 World Cup Final between Ruslan Ponomariov and Boris Gelfand was also drawn, but was at least was more of a genuine contest than game two.  Ponomariov avoided another Petroff by trying 1. d4 instead, and the players left op... http://www.chess.com/news/world-cup-final---game-3-6451 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 09:35:04 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/world-cup-final---game-3-6451 The second game of the 2009 World Cup Final in Khanty-Mansiysk ended in a draw, leaving the players deadlocked with two regular games remaining. The hostilities came to an end after just 20 moves.  The players will undoubtedly be tired and anxio... http://www.chess.com/news/world-cup-final---game-two-6844 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:58:18 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/world-cup-final---game-two-6844 Vladimir Kramnik (pictured) won his second consecutive game in the London Chess Classic to keep the pressure on leader Magnus Carlsen. Kramnik beat Luke McShane, who has now lost twice - to Carlsen and Kramnik - after his marathon win against Sho... http://www.chess.com/news/london-chess-classic-round-3-1233 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:40:32 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/london-chess-classic-round-3-1233 The 2009 World Cup Final between Boris Gelfand and Ruslan Ponomariov has started in Khanty-Mansiysk.  The final is decided by a four-game match, with rapid tiebreaks if necessary - let's hope not. Ponomariov had the white pieces in the first gam... http://www.chess.com/news/world-cup-final-underway-1371 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:13:58 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/world-cup-final-underway-1371 Magnus Carlsen took full advantage of his favourable draw in the London Chess Classic to take his second win with the white pieces to hold the sole lead. In an entertaining game, Carlsen overcame Luke McShane, but not without a terrific fight.  ... http://www.chess.com/news/london-carlsen-wins-again-3739 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:13:59 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/london-carlsen-wins-again-3739 So at last London gets a grandmaster chess tournament worthy of a great city.  The London Chess Classic got underway today and the drawing of lots brought together the two tournament favourites, Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik in the first ro... http://www.chess.com/news/carlsen-beats-kramnik-in-london-4788 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:12:39 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/carlsen-beats-kramnik-in-london-4788 And then there were two... Ruslan Ponomariov finally ended the dreams of Vladimir Malakhov to advance to the final of the 2009 World Cup. It was a dramatic tie-break encounter that could so easily have gone the other way.  Malakhov won the first... http://www.chess.com/news/ponomariov-makes-world-cup-final-7691 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:29:47 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/ponomariov-makes-world-cup-final-7691 Top seed Boris Gelfand (pictured) made qualifying for the final of the 2009 World Cup look easy by beating Sergey Karjakin again to win their match 2-0. Needing a win with the black pieces, Karjakin tried desperately to complicate matters, but in... http://www.chess.com/news/gelfand-cruises-into-final-8325 Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:11:32 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/gelfand-cruises-into-final-8325 London is gearing-up for it's biggest chess tournament in 25 years, as the inaugural London Chess Classic gets underway on Tuesday 8 December at the Olympia Conference Centre. Heading the impressive line-up is current world #2 Magnus Carlsen from... http://www.chess.com/news/london-chess-classic-2009-7586 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:09:49 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/london-chess-classic-2009-7586 Boris Gelfand took a crucial lead against Sergey Karjakin in the 2009 World Cup by winning the first of their semi-final games with the black pieces. Karjakin played the Bishop's opening to avoid the Petroff, but Gelfand soon equalised with an un... http://www.chess.com/news/world-cup-semi-finals-2103 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 06:05:23 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/world-cup-semi-finals-2103 The quarter final tie-breaks of the 2009 World Cup are over, and Boris Gelfand and Ruslan Ponomariov (pictured) are through to the semi-finals, joining Sergey Karjakin and Vladimir Malakhov. Both Gelfand and Ponomariov both made the tiebreaks loo... http://www.chess.com/news/gelfand-and-ponomariov-into-semis-4498 Sat, 05 Dec 2009 09:19:00 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/gelfand-and-ponomariov-into-semis-4498 The second games of the quarter-finals were all drawn, so Vladimir Malakhov and Sergey Karjakin (pictured) are safely through to the 2009 World Cup semi-finals at the expense of Peter Svidler and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov respectively. Svidler tried ... http://www.chess.com/news/malakhov-and-karjakin-in-semis-2307 Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:21:45 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/malakhov-and-karjakin-in-semis-2307 At 29 years old and rated 2706 Elo (world rank #31) Vladimir Malakhov (pictured) is the nearest thing to an 'outsider' we have left in the 2009 World Cup. He belied that status in the first round of quarter-final games by surviving a Peter Svidler... http://www.chess.com/news/tryout Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:41:19 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/tryout In the 2009 World Cup, the fourth round tie-breaks sorted the men from the boys - in some cases quite literally.  Both remaining juniors, Wesley So (16, pictured) and Fabiano Caurana (17) were eliminated by their more experienced opposition (Mala... http://www.chess.com/news/no-place-for-juniors-in-q-finals-4645 Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:56:46 -0800 http://www.chess.com/news/no-place-for-juniors-in-q-finals-4645