In chess, like in any other sports, psychology plays a critical role. One doesn’t become a world champion having a weak character. However, even the bravest and most self-confident player isn’t guaranteed anything. The higher the stakes, the more ...
The title of "World Champion" is the most coveted award in chess. It is desired by millions, but reached by only the chosen few. Behind each champion there is a story of years of hard work. Some great chess players never became world champions for...
"The uniqueness of the forthcoming match, as I see it, is in the fact that for the first time in the modern World Chess Championships history the match between the legitima...
Just like last year in Tbilisi, in 2012 in Gaziantep I had to score 2/2 in the final two games to qualify for the World Championship. In round 10 of the European Championship I won a nerve-racking game against Voinovich, and in the final round I w...
From March 1st to 19th most of the strongest European female chess players gathered at Gaziantep, Turkey to compete for the classical, rapid and blitz titles. I don’t want to dwell too much on the statistics and peculiarities of the tournament str...
In a recent lesson one of my students innocently asked whether I every bluffed in chess, ie, played a move I knew to be bad in the hope of confusing my opponent. I replied in somewhat pompous terms that Masters really don't as a general rule indu...
I know what you're thinking: Here we go again! Another ridiculous, self-deprecating blog/rant by International Master Daniel Rensch... Well, after my performance at the SPICE Cup (North American Masters) in Chicago, I am left with no choice but...
After Paul Morphy, the next great chess player was Harry Pillsbury (1872-1906). Harry Nelson Pillsbury was born on December 5, 1872 in Somerville, Massachusetts, located just north of Boston. His father, Luther Batchelder Pillsbury (1832-1905),...
Life is about defining priorities and making choices. Sometimes we tend to overestimate or underestimate certain factors. Chess is not an exception. First of all, sometimes we misevaluate what’s happening on the board itself. Secondly, quite ofte...
While most of us prefer to be on the attacking side, quite often we end up under the opponent’s pressure. In fact, the nature of the pressure can lie in the chess realm and/or in the field of psychology. By chess pressure we mean a long-last...
The final part of the report about the Women’s World Team Chess Championship features the last three rounds. These are especially important in terms of the tournament’s results. Usually by that point everyone is tired, and the cost of making a mis...
From the battles of the early rounds to the middlegame of the tournament. Our team had to face two tough competitors – Georgia and China. Lately we have scored well against Georgia, but this time that wasn’t the case. The match was a really close...
The World Team Chess Championship is one of the most prestigious team events, although women’s championships have a very short history. This year’s edition in Mardin, Turkey was only the third. The previous two tournaments ended in the same way: 1...
If you missed it, the first half of this tournament report is here. And now for the decisive moment in the match-- The 5th round failed our expectations, and the Oldhands won again. Hort defeated Kulovana, who was fighting rather desperately in e...
The Snowdrops vs Oldhands match has been taking place in the Czech resort Marianski Lazne for fourt years in a row. The name of the event is connected with a movie which was quite popular in that country. There are two teams of 4 players each: mal...
During my studies in the National Sports Academy we had many other subjects besides chess. Anatomy, psychology, biochemistry, sports medicine, etc. Some of them were not really related to chess, some very close to the aspect of our game. We also h...
Grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian is currently one of the United States' highest ranked chess players. He became an IM at the age of 16 and a GM at the age of 20. Akobian has won three World Opens, played for the U.S. in two Chess Olympiads, and qualif...
The European Team Chess Championship finished quite recently, on November 11th. This was my debut year. Generally speaking, this event is held once every two years, and attracts nearly all the top grandmasters from Europe. Exciting and fighting ga...
Every year in Europe the strongest chess club among men and women is determined. This event is rather short, but very exciting. Among the participants you can see both elite grandmasters and pure amateurs. The main prize is a cup that the team get...
We often hear or say ourselves that “I got tired, and my brain went dead”; “I was tired and blundered”, “I didn’t have enough energy left for the last few rounds”. Standard time control tournaments are especially demanding, as they last a few days...
I have been playing chess professionally from my childhood, and most of my friends are also pros. Quite often amateurs send me emotional messages stating they are willing to start training intensively in order to become a grandmaster, and even mov...
Semyon Abramovich Furman was born in Moscow, Russia (formerly USSR). He was a factory worker in Leningrad, who developed his chess skills in his spare time, and was a late bloomer by chess standards, not reaching National Master until adulthood. F...
The 1969 U.S. Championship was also a zonal qualifier, with the top three finishers advancing to the Interzonal. Fischer however, did not play, because of disagreements about the tournament's format and prize fund. Benko, one of the three qualifie...
In January 1963, Bobby again won the U.S Championship, with 8 of 11. In this championship, he lost a game to Edmar Mednis, his first ever loss in U.S. championship history. He started with only 2 points from 4 games, but winning the game in the f...
