Today in St. Louis, GM Fabiano Caruana completed his five-game first-half shutout. Also today in Japan, a high school baseball pitcher completed a 50-inning shutout. Which was more impressive? Well, the baseball game lasted for four days; Caruan...
Round four of the 2014 Sinquefield Cup produced slightly more solid play from four players, but it was just another day at the office for GM Fabiano Caruana. By notching the day's only win, he moved to 4-0, increased his lead to two full points,...
After such a great start of 5.5/6 it could hardly go wrong: GM Laurent Fressinet won the French Championship in Nimes on Thursday, finishing on 8.5/11. Second came GM Etienne Bacrot, a point behind, followed by GM Romain Edouard who...
Is it a perfect start? Mathematically, yes. GM Fabiano Caruana moved to 3-0 today by beating GM Magnus Carlsen as Black. No other player is within 1.5 points, which is the maximum possible lead after three rounds at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup. "...
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has extended the deadline for the players' contracts for the world championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand until September 7, 2014. This was mentioned on Facebook by GM Emil Sut...
The much-anticipated matchup between GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Magnus Carlsen turned out to be the sideshow in round two of the 2014 Sinquefield Cup, hosted by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The two rivals drew, w...
On Thursday, Hou Yifan of China came one step closer to overall victory in the 2013-2014 Women's Grand Prix Series after beating her closest rival, Humpy Koneru of India, with the black pieces. The women's world champion needs to finish ahe...
The first round of the strongest tournament in history began with a bang. Actually, many bangs. Two hours into the 2014 Sinquefield Cup, a thunderstorm roared through, and a lightning bolt struck close enough to knock out seven of the televisions ...
The players' contracts for the world championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand need to be signed within a week, but Carlsen wants to postpone his decision until after the Sinquefield Cup, which starts today. “The dead...
By now, you likely know that the 2014 Sinquefield Cup will be the strongest chess tournament ever held. The average rating of 2802 FIDE ensures that the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is the place to be the next two weeks. GMs M...
The final stage of the 2013-2014 Women's Grand Prix Series, underway in Sharjah, UAE, will answer the question whether Hou Yifan or Humpy Koneru will emerge as the overall winner. That player will challenge the 2014 women's world ches...
On Sunday. GM Hrant Melkumyan won the fourth edition of the Riga Technical University Open in Latvia. The Armenian grandmaster edged out Richard Rapport of Hungary on tiebreak after both finished on 7.5/9. Melkumyan won his first six gam...
In yesterday's four-game match between GM Hikaru Nakamura and the computer Stockfish, the world's top chess engine won 3-1. Nakamura, the world's fifth-best human, managed two draws in the four games but lost twice, both times pressing instead o...
GM Laurent Fressinet has had a fabulous first half at the French Championship in Nimes. The 32-year-old grandmaster from Dax scored 5.5/6 and with five rounds to go, he is a point and a half ahead of GMs Etienne Bacrot and Matthieu Cornette.&...
According to its president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, FIDE has denied a request from Magnus Carlsen to postpone his world championship match with Viswanathan Anand. Carlsen is not happy with the match taking place in November in Sochi, but Ilyumzhinov, w...
GM Hrant Melkumyan of Armenia is the only player left with a perfect score at the Riga Open, a strong tournament in the Latvian capital that started right after the Tromsø Olympiad. Top seed and local hero GM Alexei Shirov start...
The four tournaments of the new FIDE Grand Prix series will be held in Baku (Azerbaijan), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Tehran (Iran) and Moscow (Russia). Earlier today the World Chess Federation (FIDE) published the full schedule, with dates and ho...
"Playing like a machine" has become a compliment lately in the chess world (if not an accusation!). This weekend, a top grandmaster will make it literal. On August 23, world number five GM Hikaru Nakamura will play four games against Stockf...
Two chess players died on the last day of the Olympiad. Also on the last day, Garry Kasparov published a statement regarding the FIDE Presidential elections. He lost to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who was congratulated by none other than Vladimir Put...
China won the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, Norway on Thursday after beating Poland 3-1 in the final round. The team finished on 19 out of a possible 22 match points. Russia clinched the gold medal for the third time in a r...
China has excellent chances to clinch its first-ever gold medal at a Chess Olympiad. In the penultimate round in Tromsø, China's biggest star, Yu Yangyi, decided the match with France by beating Laurent Fressinet in a double ro...
France joined China in the lead in round 9 of the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø. It was again Etienne Bacrot who clinched the two match points for the French team, and on the top boards China drew four games with Ukraine. The...
The incumbent FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov defeated his Challenger Garry Kasparov with 110 votes to 61 at the FIDE Presidential elections, held today during the General Assembly in Tromsø, Norway. Below is a report on what happened tod...
China is the new leader at the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø. With three rounds to go they are the only team with 14 match points after beating Azerbaijan 3-1 on Sunday. Russia continues to top the women section after a 3.5-0...
