Repeating the result of the 2018 World Championship knockout final, Ju Wenjun beat Kateryna Lagno in a short rapid match in Beijing, China earlier this week. It was a historic moment for chess in China, as part of it was broadcast on national television.
At least for two top grandmasters we know why they are not playing in the Cairns Cup in St. Louis. Albeit briefly, Ju and Lagno met again at the chess board during China's traditional Spring Festival. On February 11 and 12, they played a match...
Russia vs. Russia. One board. The inaugural Cairns Cup will be on the line tomorrow and there will be no playoff.
After the two leaders drew today, albeit with wildly different methods, GMs Valentina Gunina (6.5/8) and Alexandra Kosteniuk (6.0/8) and their pending head-to-head matchup in round nine will decide who wins the inaugural title. Since there's no way for them to end on the same number of points, nor for anyone to catch them, we're headed for a Friday finish. Kosteniuk takes white.
Today...
In a continuation from the last article, Is Classical Chess Dead From Draws, we will be comparing different time controls in the Grand Chess Tour (GCT). Mike Klein just wrote a recent piece highlighting the new 2019 format and the players on the invite list.
Last month we analyzed the classical chess draw rate by year when both players were rated over 2750. In the past couple of years, that rate has increased above 70%!
Data CollectionThe data for this article contains all Grand...
How can a perfect chess machine like Jose Raul Capablanca possibly lose? Well, it happens to every world champion. Find out how Richard Reti was able to defeat the Cuban legend in this amazing game.
Yesterday I solved puzzles for 2 hours. Let me share a few puzzles which I solved yesterday from
Chess Tactics for the Tournament Player
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yesterday I looked examples about typical errors. One of them is when a player improperly visualizing the chessboard and pieces. In this one white thought...
The upcoming dMP Batavia Amsterdam Chess Tournament (March 1-10) will experiment with a revolutionary format. In this 10-player GM norm tournament, the players will play a blitz match before each round that will decide on the score in case they will then draw their classical game.
Each time a top level tournament (or match!) has a high drawing percentage, many chess fans lose interest and start debating ways to do something against it. The 2019 Altibox Norway Chess tournament (June 3-15) is the...
The Bullet Chess Championship will run from April 3-7, and will be broadcast live on www.Twitch.tv/Chess. The total prize pool is $15,000. Below you will find a breakdown of the rules, prizes, confirmed players and the complete schedule.
Players
Prizes
Schedule
Rules and Format
Players:
Hikaru Nakamura — Chess.com #1 Bullet player at time of invitation.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave — World #2 blitz (FIDE) at time of invitation.
Alexander Grischuk — Three-time world...
GM Valentina Gunina cannot be stopped. Well, she could be, were it not for the 30-move draw rule. Now winner of four consecutive games at the inaugural Cairns Cup, she explained today that she was only trying to make a draw after equalizing out of the opening in today's round seven.
One problem: The 30-move no draws rule prevented her from offering one. She played on, and after winning the exchange against IM Anna Zatonskih, Gunina's king walked the tightrope but she found a way to convert. That...
Yes, I did another “Little Things” article (highlighting IM Cyrus Lakdawala again).
Why another? Because I think it’s very instructive. See (and understand) a ton of these and your chess IQ should skyrocket.
Once again, I am giving you another five puzzles. And, once again, do your best to solve them. Then look at the copious notes hiding behind the board. As always, if you fail to solve them, DO tweak that little “?” mark and all the goodies will fall at your feet.
PUZZLE...
