Something about the air in Biel does something for Alexander Morozevich. Yesterday he won his fourth game in a row to move to a full-point lead in the GM tournament with 5/6. Yes, he's clearly the class of the event...
It's a very short sprint so get your popcorn and find your seat quickly. The official site was down during the round but is back up now. Eight players meet in a single round-robin so it's a mere seven rounds....
From the doomed romantic department. Came upon this position while preparing tonight's Black Belt. It's from Sadvakasov-Zaikov, round 5 of the 2006 World Open. Black to play. White has consolidated and the Black king has nowhere to go in the...
All three games decisive in the Biel GM tournament. Carlsen loses to Volokitin with white while Morozevich beats Pelletier with black to move into clear first after three straight wins. Radjabov defeated Bruzon to move into second place. Pelletier is...
Morozevich moved into a tie for first with Carlsen by beating Radjabov in an extraordinarily complicated game. Moro has yet to draw a game. All three games were good fights today. The endgame from Morozevich-Radjabov should have rung a few...
An interesting round in the Biel GM event despite Bruzon and Pelletier taking an 18-move nap. Leaders Carlsen and Radjabov waged battle in a funky Benko Gambit line, the Boy from Baku II on the white side. (Black left his...
Sorry to keep changing the story but there are new developments and I feel obliged to keep up instead of waiting for all the smoke to clear. Apparently the Zurich exhibition event with Kasparov, Polgar, Karpov, and Korchnoi will be...
The supertournament part of the Biel chess festival is underway with two rounds in the books. Two exciting rounds. 5/6 of the games have been decisive so far. Carlsen and Radjabov lead on 2/2. Morozevich, Bruzon, Volokitin, and Pelletier are...
Well, the cat is out of the bag somewhat so I'll go with more. (The lamest part about having to keep these secrets is that half the time I'm not even the first to break the news.) Kasparov will return...
Busy week and day with a wedding (not my own) and meetings (GK in town; book finished!) but I'll be back with lots of updates. My inbox overfloweth with items on tourney cheats and the USCF special election, which looks...
The visiting team has moved to within a point of the Chinese squad in the Taiyuan Scheveningen event after seven rounds. Vescovi continued to implode by losing a not-worse endgame in terrible fashion. Jobava is the standout so far and...
I'm sure the columnist isn't aware that Tal already claims that mantle among chessplayers. But for those who have been quick to doom Garry Kasparov's political career - many even before it started - this might be of interest. The...
Oddly enough I find myself in Montreal this weekend on a spontaneous dash north of the border with my girlfriend. Of course - and doesn't it always happen this way, if you think not, ask your girlfriend - we stumble...
Look at the pretty kitties and let your rancor melt away... Open thread, happy thoughts, topic suggestions, questions, conundrums....
The grasshopper beat the master in the Norwegian championship. Magnus Carlsen (15) defeated his old trainer Simen Agdestein (39) to take the clear lead on 6/7 with two rounds to play. Last year the championship required a playoff and then...
Gasundheit! TWIC reports the start of an interesting tournament in China. The large-by-any-but-Chinese-standards city of Taiyuan (not Taiwan) in north-east China is hosting this Scheveningen format event. (One of Buddhism's most sacred mountains is located there, dontcha know.) A Scheveningen...
German chip manufacturer ZMD sponsored a creative event in Dresden, Germany, home of the 2008 chess Olympiad. Held on the weekend of the conclusion of the World Cup, a Women's World Cup of chess rapid event invited top female players...
From Hanoi comes this tale, with obvious connections to the recent World Open cheating scandal/s. More than 20 desperate students in Vietnam paid up to 50 million dong ($3,125) to don elaborately wired wigs and shirts that allowed them to...
Though a long-time contributing editor to the Wall St. Journal, Garry Kasparov has regularly branched out in the op-ed world. In the past few week's he's had articles in the Financial Times and now, the liberal bastion that is the...
Junior with Junior? My 17-month-old nephew Roman, in Brooklyn with my sister for a visit, up from their home in the Bahamas. Apart from terrifying the cats and demolishing my bookshelves with studious industry he's also shown an interest...
You may have noticed that the 2006 World Open thread has turned into an informative and interesting look into several cheating allegations made during the tournament. Many players who were there have posted and from what I can tell two...
Final two rounds today. Feel free to post updates if you're watching live. Kamsky squeezed Milov until he popped and now shares the lead on 6/7 with Milov and Joel "Jersey Boyo" Benjamin, who made a bid for an immortal...
The World Open standings are trackable now that the schedules have merged. Switzerland's Vadim Milov, who recently won the San Marino Open, is in the lead with 5/5 after beating Hikaru Nakamura in the fifth round. (Wild Benko Gambit.) Kamsky,...
FIDE has announced the latest rating list, this one including MTel and the Olympiad as well as many other events from one of the busiest calendar segments I can recall. Most of the top players have over 20 rated games,...
