At the beginning of February, the now 12-year old chess talent Tykhon Cherniaiev from Ukraine was about to start a new show on ChessBase called “Challenge Cherniaiev”. But then Russia invaded Ukraine and Tykhon and his family had to flee from their home in Kharkiv. Fortunately, many chess fans offered help and Tykhon and his […]
Monthly Archives: March 2022
Garry Kasparov has long been an avowed opponent of Vladimir Putin, and in 2015 he issued a strong warning about Putin and his political aims in his book “Winter is Coming”. In an interview with the American TV programme “Amanpour and Company”, Kasparov now talks about the war in Ukraine, Putin’s political rise, the failure […]
The pools for the last leg of the FIDE Grand Prix have been determined. The tournament in Berlin will be held from 21 March to 4 April at the World Chess Club Berlin. The event features 16 elite chess players competing for a prize fund of €150,000 and the last two places in the Candidates […]
Two exciting games were seen at the start of the FIDE Grand Prix semifinals in Belgrade. Richard Rapport scored a crucial win over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and now only needs a draw on Thursday to vastly increase his chances of qualifying to the Candidates Tournament. Meanwhile, Anish Giri gave up two exchanges and got a favourable […]
On 5 March 2022 Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch would have celebrated his 160th birthday. Throughout his life Tarrasch, who was a medical practitioner by profession, remained an amateur, but at his prime he was one of the world’s best players, if not the best. Tarrasch was also a prolific and popular writer whose books have influenced […]
Today is International Women’s Day, also in chess. The first strong female chess champion was Vera Menchik. José Raul Capablanca, who died 80 years ago today, on 8 March 1942, was one of many strong players who respected her. Vera Menchik died 26 June 1944 during a German V-1 flying bomb attack on London during […]
All pools at the preliminaries of the FIDE Grand Prix in Belgrade had a clear winner after Monday’s sixth and final round. Dmitry Andreikin, Anish Giri, Richard Rapport and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave moved on to the semifinals, and will get a rest day before the knockout stage, as no tiebreaks were needed in the qualifiers. | […]
The Board of the European Chess Union met in extraordinary session on Thursday 3rd of March to discuss the situation in Ukraine and appropriate measures. The European Chess Union strongly condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the involvement of Belarus and expresses its solidarity and support for the Ukrainian people. We feel deep sorrow for […]
It was Aron Nimzowitsch (pictured) who coined the paradoxical expression “The threat is stronger than its execution.” This phrase sounds catchy and smart but if you think about it, you start to wonder how a threat can actually ever be stronger than its execution. Jan Markos has a number of good answers. (Foto: L’Echiquier 1931)
The acronym “LPDO” was probably coined by the English player Mike Cook, who used it to explain the majority of his losses in a 100-game blitz match against John Nunn. But it was Nunn who made the term popular by talking about this blitz match in his book “Secrets of Practical Chess”. Keeping “LPDO” in […]