At the US National Championship, which began on Sunday, arbiter Chris Bird helped to create an image that will likely find its way into the collection of the most curious chess photos. He stood next to the table of Wesley So and Hans Niemann — with an umbrella. No, it wasn’t raining inside.
Monthly Archives: October 2025
Pierre de Fermat (1601–1665) was a French mathematician who made pioneering contributions to analytic geometry, calculus, optics, and probability. He is best known for Fermat’s Last Theorem, which famously remained unproven for over three centuries. Then, thirty years ago (in 1995), the mathematician Andrew Wiles published the comprehensive proof. In his book “Chess Stories” mathematician […]
The 2025 US Chess Championships are taking place on 12-24 October at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Each tournament is a 12-player single round-robin with a classical time control. Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Hans Niemann are the highest-rated players in the open, while Carissa Yip, Alice Lee and Tatev Abrahamyan head the women’s field. […]
Already in the second round of the famous Hastings tournament of 1895, two of the favourites faced each other in a tough and complex battle. After just thirteen moves, the game had reached a semi-endgame with two rooks and two minor pieces each. Lasker held the pair of bishops, but it was Chigorin with the […]
After six rounds of play at the European Team Chess Championship in Batumi, Ukraine have strengthened their position at the top of the open standings, while Poland have taken firm control of the women’s competition with a commanding victory over their closest rivals. The final three rounds of the championships in Batumi will take place […]
The Saint Louis Chess Club will soon host the 2025 US Chess Championship and the 2025 US Women’s Championship, running from 12 to 24 October in its newly expanded venue. With a prize fund exceeding $400,000, the 12-player fields feature America’s elite, including Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Carissa Yip, Alice Lee and Irina Krush. Alongside […]
In this episode of Svitlana’s Smart Moves, Svitlana Demchenko and Arne analyze a classic 1991 game between Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand, inspired by their current exhibition match. They explore the tactical richness of the Sicilian Taimanov, focusing on key moments like Kasparov’s brilliant knight sacrifice on b5 and his creative attacking manoeuvres leading to […]
The Ragozin Defence is one of those opening systems that are very popular in modern tournament chess. It combines solid classical elements with dynamic ideas. For those looking for active and dynamic play against 1.d4 without taking any significant risks, Grandmaster Surya Ganguly has created a high-class Fritz trainer in “Reinventing the Ragozin”. The course […]
Garry Kasparov increased his advantage over Viswanathan Anand to 8½–3½ after the second day of their chess960 match in Saint Louis. The 13th world champion capitalised on Anand’s time forfeiture in the first game and later added another win in the blitz section. The day’s results left Kasparov firmly ahead, though twelve points remain at […]
The delayed September edition reviews a single slow-play game in the mainline Sicilian Dragon, Yugoslav Attack with Bc4 and 10.Bb3. Chris outlines White’s three plans: all-out h4–h5, positional a4, or the “halfway house”, and shows the typical imbalances after Bxe6 followed by fxe6 and the tactical motif Rb4. But, our viewers have to be strong, […]