Some nice games from Unive Chess Tournament
Chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
 Alexei Shirov
Hello Everyone,
Here are some nice games from the Unive Chess Tournament. You can run them in the pgnplayer or watch in flash below.
PGN: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Nxd4 7. Qxd4 d6 8. Be2 Bg7 9. Be3 O-O 10. Qd2 a5 11. Rd1 Be6 12. O-O a4 13. f4 Qa5 14. Bd4 Rfe8 15. Qd3 Rad8 16. Kh1 Bd7 17. Qe3 Rc8 18. h3 Bc6 19. e5 Nd7 20. exd6 exd6 21. Qf2 Nf6 22. f5 g5 23. h4 g4 24. h5 Ne4 25. Nxe4 Bxd4 26. Rxd4 Rxe4 27. Rxe4 Bxe4 28. Bxg4 Rxc4 29. Be2 Rc6 30. Qh4 Qe5 31. Qd8+ Kg7 32. f6+ Kh6 33. Qf8+ Kg5 34. Qg8+ Bg6 35. hxg6 hxg6 36. Qxf7 Qxe2 37. Qd5+ Kg4 38. Rf3 Qe1+ 39. Kh2 Qh4+ 40. Rh3 Qxf6 41. Qe4+ Qf4+ 42. Rg3+ 1-0
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Bd7 11. h4 Na5 12. Bd3 e5 13. Bg5 Qc7 14. dxe5 Rfe8 15. f4 Bg4 16. Qe1 h6 17. Bf6 Bxf6 18. exf6 Rad8 19. Qg3 c4 20. Qxg4 cxd3 21. Ng3 Nc4 22. e5 Ne3 23. Qf3 Nxf1 24. Rxf1 d2 25. Rd1 Qc4 26. Nf5 Rd3 27. Ne7+ Kh7 28. Qxb7 Red8 29. Qxa7 Rxc3 0-1
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 b6 7. cxd5 exd5 8. O-O Bb7 9. Ne5 Bd6 10. f4 c5 11. Bd2 Nc6 12. Ne2 Rc8 13. Bc3 Ne7 14. Ng3 Ne4 15. Bxe4 dxe4 16. Qg4 f5 17. Qh3 c4 18. d5 Bc5 19. Rad1 Bxe3+ 20. Kh1 Nxd5 21. Nxf5 Bxf4 22. Nh6+ gxh6 23. Qe6+ Kg7 24. Nc6+ Nxc3 25. Rxd8 1-0
PGN: 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. Be2 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qd7 6. h3 Bxf3 7. Bxf3 O-O-O 8. d3 Nd4 9. O-O e6 10. Be3 Ne7 11. Bxd4 Qxd4 12. Ne4 Nc6 13. Qc1 Be7 14. Rd1 f5 15. c3 Qd7 16. Ng3 g6 17. d4 Bd6 18. b4 Bxg3 19. fxg3 Qd6 20. b5 Na5 21. c4 e5 22. c5 Qe7 23. Qc3 e4 24. Bxe4 fxe4 25. Qxa5 Kb8 26. Qc3 Rd5 27. Re1 Rhd8 28. Rad1 Qd7 29. c6 Qd6 30. Rxe4 Rxb5 31. cxb7 Rxb7 32. d5 Rb5 33. Kh2 Qb6 34. a4 Rb3 35. Qc4 Rb2 36. Re7 Rf8 37. Qe4 Rb4 38. Qe5 Rb2 39. Re8+ Rxe8 40. Qxe8+ Kb7 41. a5 Qc5 42. a6+ Kxa6 43. Qc8+ Kb5 44. Qb8+ Qb6 45. Qe8+ Ka6 46. Qc8+ Kb5 47. Rc1 Qe3 48. Qb8+ Qb6 49. Qe8+ Kb4 50. Qe4+ Ka3 51. Ra1+ Ra2 52. Qd3+ Qb3 53. Qa6+ Kb2 54. Qf6+ Ka3 55. Qe7+ Ka4 56. Rxa2+ Qxa2 57. Qxc7 Qxd5 58. Qxa7+ Kb5 59. Qxh7 Qe6 60. h4 Kc5 61. Qh6 Qe8 62. Qf4 Kd5 63. g4 Qe1 64. Qg5+ Kd4 65. Qf6+ Kd5 66. h5 gxh5 67. gxh5 Qe8 68. Qf5+ Kd4 69. h6 Qb8+ 70. Kh3 Qb3+ 71. g3 Qb7 72. h7 Qh1+ 73. Kg4 Qd1+ 74. Kg5 1-0
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: Unive Chess Tournament
Magistral Casino de Barcelona 2010 Category 21 Chess Tournament from Nov 4
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
 Barcelona beckons
Hi Everyone,
Even if you're suffering a little emptiness with the Nanjing Super Chess Tournament having ended and no high-powered chess games happening as of now, take heart.
The Magistral Casino de Barcelona 2010 will take place from November 4-12 at the Catalonian Chess Federation and sponsored by the Casino of Barcelona (Group Peralada), Barcelona City Hall, Catalonian Sports Council and Hotel Icaria of Barcelona.
The following ten internationally recognized Grandmasters will participate in this Round Robin Tournament: 1 GM ROMAIN EDOUARD (FRA) 2636 2 GM ROBERT L. HESS (EEUU) 2596 3 GM DANIEL ALSINA (ESP) 2523 4 GM JORDI MAGEM (ESP) 2589 5 GM IVÁN SALGADO (ESP) 2595 6 GM LÁZARO BRUZÓN (CUB) 2679 7 GM JAIME A. CUARTAS (COL) 2526 8 GM ARTUR YUSSUPOV (ALE) 2589 9 GM JOSEP OMS (ESP) 2517 10 GM ERNESTO INARKIEV (RUS) 2671 The Tournament is actually that of Category 14 which makes it the strongest tournament in Catalonia, and one of the strongest in Spain. Also it is included in the ACP Tour, as one of the most important events in the Chess World. There will be more activities besides the Tournament, Grandmaster Josep Oms will give a lecture 'How to Discover the Weaknesses of Your Play and Improve It', and Cuba´s Grandmaster Lázaro Bruzón will offer a Simultaneous Exhibition.
You can find more details here.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: Magistral Casino de Barcelona 2010
What's the Halloween Chess Gambit?
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
Hello Everyone,
The Halloween Gambit, also known as the Müller-Schulze Gambit or Leipzig Gambit, is an aggressive gambit in chess, in which White sacrifices a knight for just one pawn. It is a branch of the normally staid Four Knights Game.
You've really have to have courage to play this one and scare the living daylights out of your opponent. Whoever gave a Knight for a pawn?
The theoretician Oskar Cordel reported in 1888 that Leipzig club players used it to dangerous effect but he did not believe it was sound. Their name for it, Gambit Müller und Schulze, was not after any players by those names; rather, it is a jocular German equivalent of "Smith and Jones" or "Tom, Dick and Harry".
The opening is characterized by the moves 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5
Run the flashplayer to see below.
The goal of the gambit is to seize the center with pawns and drive back Black's knights. After 4...Nxe5, White usually plays 5.d4, in preference to 5.f4, which does not facilitate his development. You've got to have the nerve to play this.
Here's a spectacular game that White wins in an email thematic tournament. You can run the moves in the pgnplayer or watch in flash below.
PGN: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 Bb4 8.Qf3 f6 9.O-O Bxc3 10.bxc3 d5 11.exd6 cxd6 12.Ba3 N8e7 13.Rfe1 Qc7 14.Bb3 Kd8 15.c4 Bd7 16.Rad1 Qc6 17.Qc3 a5 18.d5 Qc7 19.c5 b5 20.Qd2 b4 21.cxd6 Qxd6 22.Bb2 a4 23.Bc4 Ke8 24.a3 Ne5 25.Ba2 b3 26.cxb3 axb3 27.Bxb3 Kf7 28.f4 N5g6 29.Re6 Qxf4 30.Qe2 Qb8 31.Ba2 Qa7+ 32.Kh1 Kf8 33.d6 Ng8 34.Qc4 Nh6 35.Bxf6! gxf6 36.Rxf6+ Ke8 (36...Kg7 37.Qc3) 37.Rxg6 hxg6 38.Qc3 Rh7 39.Qf6 Ba4 40.Qxg6+ Nf7 41.Rf1 Bc2 42.Qxc2 1-0
If you dare play this in a tournament, let us know. Meanwhile, here is also a cute Halloween Chess Video. Enjoy.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: Halloween Chess Gambit
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave wins Unive Chess Tournament in Hoogeveen
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Hello Everyone,
Maxime Vachier Lagrave has won the Unive Chess Tournament (Crown Group) tournament was held in Hoogeveen, Netherlands from Octobver 22-30, 2010.
The Crown Group included GM Alexei Shirov of Spain (currently the 12th highest-rated player in the World with an elo of 2749), GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France (currently the 25th highest-rated player in the World with an elo of 2721) , GM Anish Giri of the Netherlands (currently the 61st-highest-rated player in the World with an elo of 2677) and GM Sergei Tiviakov of the Netherlands, (currently the 108th-highest-rated chess player in the World with an elo of 2673).
World Junior Champion 2009, Maxime won the tournament a full point ahead of the Alexei Shirov. He had beaten Shirov in the fourth round and that seemed to have contributed to the final results.
There were special prizes that included the Chess creativity 'Beauty Contest' prize going to Shirov in the Crown Group. The rating prize went to Evie Warmelink, in the Open Section, who scored 5 out of 9. You can check the official website here.
Final standings:
1. Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 4½ 2. Shirov, Alexei 3½ 3. Giri, Anish 3 4. Tiviakov, Sergei 1
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: Unive Chess Tournament
Chess in 'From Paris With Love'
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
 From Paris, With Love movie poster
Hello Everyone,
The nice thing is that the chess motif is there in this 2010 Hollywood release also. It's an action film starring John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. It has and directed by Pierre Morel. The screenplay was co-written by Luc Besson.
After the opening scene the camera pans to the U.S. Embassy in France where you find the personal aide to the U.S. Ambassador in France, James Reese (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) keeping the Ambassador busy with a quick chess move! The movie ends with a chess scene too but we won't spell the beans. Reese loves chess and so does his eventual partner Charlie Wax.
Here's a dialogue from the movie:
James Reece: I'm not your driver. I'm your partner. FBI agent Charlie Wax: Yeah, you're the chess player. I read your file. James Reece: You play? FBI agent Charlie Wax: Do I look like I play board games?
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: chess movie
Tseshkovsky leads World Senior Chess Championship 2010
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
 GM Vitaly Tseshkovsky
Hello Everyone,
Here is some news about the Senior World Chess Championship being held in Arco, Italy. After four rounds in the Open section, GM Tseshkovsky Vitaly, GM Rajkovic Dusan and IM Filipenko Alexander are leading with four points each.
Meanwhile, in the Women's section, WGM Khmiadashvili Tamar and WIM Mira Helene are leading with 3 points each. Defending champion GM Gaprindashvili Nona is just half a point behind at 2.5.
Here is a nice Round 4 game from the Open section. You can run it in our pgnplayer or watch in flash below. Enjoy.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: Senior World Chess Championship 2010
Carlsen wins Nanjing Pearl Spring Chess, Anand second
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
Hello Everyone,
Even the last round was exciting enough at the Nanjing Pearl Spring Chess Tournament in China. Magnus Carlsen had already won the event yesterday with a round to spare but the second place was still to be decided. Viswanathan Anand took the second spot after a win over Etinne Bacrot.
Meanwhile, Veselin Topalov tricked Wang Yue and won a lost game to take the fifth slot. Carlsen earlier had a draw with Vugar Gashimov in the last round.
Final Standings ------------------------
# Name Pts S-B 1. Carlsen, Magnus 7 31.5 2. Anand, Viswanathan 6 27.75 3. Bacrot, Etienne 5 23 4. Gashimov, Vugar 4.5 23 5. Topalov, Veselin 4.5 19.5 6. Wang, Yue 3 15.75
And, here are the nice games from the last round. You can see the moves in our pgnplayer or simply enjoy the games in flash below.
PGN: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.O-O O-O 6.d3 Bxc3 7.bxc3 d6 8.Re1 Bd7 9.Rb1 a6 10.Bxc6 Bxc6 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 b6 13.Nd2 g5 14.Bg3 Ne8 15.d4 f6 16.c4 Ng7 17.c3 Qe8 18.f3 Qg6 19.Nf1 g4 20.fxg4 Bxe4 21.Rb2 Rae8 22.Rf2 exd4 23.cxd4 h5 24.gxh5 Nxh5 25.Re3 Bc6 26.Rc3 Re4 27.c5 bxc5 28.dxc5 d5 29.Bxc7 d4 30.Rd3 Rg4 31.Ng3 Re8 32.Rxd4 Rxd4 33.Qxd4 Nxg3 34.Bxg3 Re1+ 35.Rf1 Rxf1+ 36.Kxf1 Qb1+ 37.Be1 Bb5+ 38.Kf2 Qxa2+ 39.Kg3 Kf7 40.Bc3 Qe6 41.Qf4 Bc6 42.h4 a5 43.Qc7+ Bd7 44.Qf4 a4 45.h5 a3 46.Kh2 a2 47.Qh4 Qe7 48.Qf2 Qe6 49.Qc2 Qf5 50.Qxf5 Bxf5 51.c6 Be4 52.c7 Bf5 53.Kg3 Bc8 54.Kf4 Bb7 55.Ba1 Bc8 56.g3 Bb7 57.g4 Ba6 58.Kg3 Bc8 59.Kh4 Ba6 60.Bb2 Bb7 61.h6 Kg6 62.h7 Kxh7 63.Kh5 Bc8 64.Bxf6 Kg8 65.Ba1 Kf7 66.g5 Ke8 67.g6 Be6 68.g7 Kd7 69.Be5 a1B 70.Bxa1 Kxc7 71.g8Q Bxg8 1/2-1/2
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 c5 6. Nf3 d5 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Qc7 11. h3 e5 12. Ba2 e4 13. Nd2 b6 14. Bb2 Bf5 15. Qe2 Bg6 16. Rfc1 Rad8 17. a4 Bh5 18. Qb5 Rfe8 19. Ba3 g5 20. Nf1 Nd7 21. Ng3 Bg6 22. Rd1 Na5 23. Rd2 h5 24. Rad1 h4 25. dxc5 Nxc5 26. Bxc5 bxc5 27. Nf1 Rb8 28. Rd7 Rxb5 29. Rxc7 Rb2 30. Bd5 Reb8 31. Rxa7 Nb3 32. a5 Bh5 33. Re1 Be2 1-0
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 c5 6. dxc5 Qa5 7. Qa4+ Qxa4 8. Nxa4 Bd7 9. Nc3 Ne4 10. Nxd5 Na6 11. f3 Nexc5 12. O-O-O Rc8 13. Bg5 f6 14. Bh4 Kf7 15. Ne2 e6 16. Ndc3 Bh6 17. Bf2 e5 18. Kb1 Rhd8 19. e4 f5 20. Ng3 b6 21. Be2 f4 22. Nf1 Bf8 23. a3 Ne6 24. Nd2 Nac5 25. Nd5 a5 26. b4 axb4 27. axb4 Ba4 28. Rc1 Rb8 29. Rc3 Nd4 30. Bxd4 exd4 31. Ra3 b5 32. bxc5 Bxc5 33. Ra2 d3 34. Bxd3 bxc4+ 35. Kc1 cxd3 36. Rxa4 Be3 37. Nxe3 fxe3 38. Nc4 Rdc8 39. Rd1 Rb3 40. Ra7+ Kg8 41. Ra4 Rc3+ 0-1
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: nanjing super chess tournament
Chess endgame study: Can White win this?
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
Hello Everyone,
Get your coffee mug, turn up the music in the background, switch of your mobile phone and sit down to solve this endgame. You will need to focus undisturbed so as to be able to enjoy this endgame study! After all - undiluted chess pleasure without disturbance is what you owe to yourself.
You can run the solution in the flash player before after your thinking time. Enjoy.
H. Rinck Basler Nachrichten, 1924 White to play and win
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: chess endgame study
Graphic novel 'Chess Rumble': Lessons for life and a sweet story
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
Hello Everyone,
Chess teaches you not to react immediately but to step back and evaluate the bigger picture. In life as in chess. So, here's a post on this very interesting graphic novel 'Chess Rumble'!
This book was published in 2007. The hero of the graphic novel is Marcus who is very angry after his sister's death and his dad leaving the family.
He wants to fight with everyone from his little brothers to his classmates. Latrell used to be Marcus's best friend, now they hate each other. Marcus is a big kid to get under his skin Latrell calls him names like Fat Albert. Marcus gets into a lot of trouble at school and his teacher, Ms. Tate is frustrated. Finally instead of the regular punishment, Ms Tate tries something new, introducing Marcus to CM.
CM teaches young men to play chess, so they can fight it out on the board. That's where everything changes!
Check out these videos on this nice book for kids.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: graphic chess novel
Carlsen wins Nanjing Pearl Spring Chess Tournament with one round to spare
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
 Magnus Carlsen
Hi Everybody,
Carlsen sealed his first place at the Nanjing Pearl Spring Chess Tournament on Friday with a win over Veselin Topalov in the ninth round. A knight fork did it all. Carlsen is now ahead of the rest of the field with 1.5 points and only one round is left.
Meanwhile, in the ninth round, the other two games - Anand-Gashimov and Bacrot-Yue - were drawn. The 2010 Nanjing International tournament is taking place from October 19 to 30 in Nanjing, China.
It is a ten-round double round-robin event, in which each player faces every other player twice, once with the white pieces, and once with black. The time control is 40 moves in two hours then 20 moves in one hour followed by the rest of the game in 15 minutes with a 30 second increment as of move 61.
Carlsen now has 6.5 points while both Bacrot and Anand have 5 points with Bacrot a little better on tie-break. Gashimov has 4 points while Topalov has 3.5 points. Wang Yue has 3 points.
Here are the nice games from Round 9. Check them in flash below or run the moves through our pgnplayer.
PGN: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 O-O 9.Nc3 Ne8 10.Nd5 Bd6 11.Re1 c6 12.Ne3 Bc7 13.c4 Nf6 14.b3 d5 15.cxd5 cxd5 16.Qf3 Be6 17.Ba3 Re8 18.Bb5 Bd7 19.Bxd7 Qxd7 20.Bb2 Be5 21.Bxe5 Rxe5 22.Nc2 Rae8 23.Rxe5 Rxe5 24.Qc3 Re8 25.Qd4 b6 26.f3 Rd8 27.Ne3 Ne8 28.f4 Nc7 29.f5 Ne8 30.Re1 Nf6 31.Ng4 Nxg4 32.Qxg4 h6 33.Qf4 Re8 34.Rxe8+ Qxe8 35.Kf2 f6 36.g4 Qc6 37.Qe3 Kh7 38.a4 Qd6 39.Kg2 a5 40.Qe8 Qb4 41.Qg6+ Kg8 42.Qe8+ 1/2-1/2
PGN: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.Nc3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bg4 10.Re1 O-O 11.Bf4 Bh5 12.Rb1 Rb8 13.Qe2 Bd6 14.Qe3 Qd7 15.Ng5 h6 16.Nh3 Bg4 17.Qg3 Bxh3 18.Bxd6 cxd6 19.Qxh3 Qxh3 20.gxh3 Rfd8 21.Rb5 Kf8 22.Reb1 b6 23.Rxd5 Rbc8 24.c4 Ke7 25.Re1+ Kf8 26.Rb1 Ke7 27.Re1+ Kf8 1/2-1/2
PGN: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Bxd2+ 5.Qxd2 d5 6.Bg2 c6 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.O-O b6 9.Rc1 O-O 10.b4 Bb7 11.Qb2 Rb8 12.Nbd2 Qe7 13.e3 Rfc8 14.Rc2 c5 15.bxc5 bxc5 16.Qa3 Rc6 17.Rac1 Ra6 18.Qd3 h6 19.Qe2 dxc4 20.Qxc4 cxd4 21.Nxd4 Rb6 22.Bxb7 R8xb7 23.Kg2 Ne5 24.Qc5 Qxc5 25.Rxc5 Rb2 26.R1c2 Nd3 27.Rc8+ Kh7 28.N4f3 a5 29.h3 a4 30.a3 g5 31.Rxb2 Rxb2 32.Rc3 Nxf2 33.Rc7 N2e4 0-1
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: nanjing super chess tournament
Chess at Mount Everest base camp!
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
Hi Everyone,
Know who's James Whittaker? Of course, the first American to climb Mount Everest as member of the American Mount Everest Expedition 1963 led by Norman Dyhrenfurth. He summited on May 1, 1963 with Sherpa Nawang Gombu (a nephew of Tenzing Norgay).
His son, Leif Whittaker also conquered the Everest this year on the 47th anniversary of his father's feat. At a special talk Whittaker Junior told an audience that they played chess at the base camp.
Now, that really makes chess cool enough!
Leif said there was a lot of waiting, as the expedition went up the mountain a little more each day before returning to base camp. Everyone had their own three-man tent, where they could get away from all the other people "and have a little mental down time," Whittaker said.
There were games such as chess, Scrabble and Horseshoes.
"I was always getting beaten at chess, and I hoped that a combination of the altitude and my improving skill would get me a win, but that took a long time," he said.
"And with Scrabble, I learned every Q-without-a-U word in existence."
You can read the full article here. You can also read Leif Whittaker's blog here.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: Chess, Mt. Everest, Whittaker
Chess endgame study: Black King to Pawn - We're in this love together
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
Hi Everyone,
Here is an interesting endgame study. The Black pawn is all set to queen the pawn on b1. White King has the support of a Knight and two Bishops. What are White's chances here?
Is not the Black King telling the pawn 'We're in this love together...' Or, maybe, it's the White King telling his army. But White got to win this somehow. Can you help?
You can play the Al Jarreau video in the background while you solve this. Enjoy!
Here is the solution. Just run the flashplayer to check it out.
The other solution if Black changes his third move is as follows:
And, if Black opts for a different second move then the solution is as follows:
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: chess endgame study
Nanjing Chess Tournament: Three draws in Round 8, Carlsen holds on to lead
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
Hello Everyone,
The Pearl Springs Nanjing Super Chess Tournament had more interesting games in Round 8 on Thursday even though all were draws. You're following all the games at the official website? Here are the games.
You can run through the games in flash below or use our pgnplayer to check out the games against your own analysis. Enjoy.
Before the games, a video of a simul with kids.
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Bxd2+ 5. Qxd2 d5 6. Bg2 c6 7. Nf3 Nbd7 8. O-O b6 9. Rc1 O-O 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Nc3 Ba6 12. a4 Rc8 13. Nb5 Ne4 14.Qf4 Qe7 15. Rc7 Bxb5 16. axb5 Nd6 17. Qc1 Rxc7 18. Qxc7 Rc8 19. Qxa7 Qd8 20. Qa4 h6 21. Qb4 Qf8 22. b3 Ne4 23. Qxf8+ Kxf8 24. Ne5 Nxe5 25. Bxe4 dxe4 26. dxe5 Rc5 27. Ra8+ Ke7 28. Ra7+ Kf8 1/2-1/2
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2 b6 9. Rd1 Nbd7 10. Bf4 Ba6 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Rc8 14. Nc3 Ng4 15. h3 Nxf2 16. Kxf2 Bc5+ 17. Be3 Bxe3+ 18. Kxe3 b5 19. Qd3 Rc4 20. Nxd5 exd5 21. Bxd5 Qg5+ 22. Kf2 Qxe5 23. Bxc4 bxc4 24. Qd6 Qf5+ 25. Ke1 Qxh3 26. Qxa6 Qxg3+ 27. Kd2 Qf4+ 28. Kc2 Qe4+ 29. Kc1 Qe3+ 30. Kb1 Qe4+ 31. Kc1 1/2-1/2
PGN: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bf4 a6 7. Rc1 Bf5 8. e3 Rc8 9. Be2 e6 10. O-O Nd7 11. Qb3 Na5 12. Qa4 Nc6 13. Qb3 Na5 14. Qa4 Nc6 1/2-1/2
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: nanjing super chess tournament
Special gift for South African children: President Zuma supports chess
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010
 The President with members of Chessa and FIDE. Back row: Lynne van Rensburg (CHESSA Secretary), Lyndon Bouah (CHESSA Vice President), Lewis Ncube (FIDE Vice President); front row: Brian Aitchison (CHESSA Executive Director), Emelia Ellappen (CHESSA President), President Jacob Zuma (President of South Africa), Ali Nihat Yazici (FIDE Vice President, FIDE Chess in Schools Commission President and Turkish Chess Federation President).
Hi Everyone,
It's always great to know when people in public life promote chess. It feels awesome to know when the President of a country steps up to promote chess among children. This is surely one of President Jacob Zuma's most notable contributions to South Africa.
President Zuma announced his support and recognition of chess as a problem-solving training activity on October 26. He highlighted the cognitive development and advancement in ability as some of the gains that young learners will derive from chess and gave a most fantastic speech on chess.
He said, "It is an important game in many aspects, the main benefit being that it contributes to the development of strategic thinking as well as concentration, analytical skills and problem solving.”
He was speaking at a function for the Moves for Life programme, which he commended for being uniquely South African.
The Moves for Life chess programme was officially launched at a gala dinner with captains of industry, politicians, educationists and other eminent citizens pledging to bring chess to the children of South Africa.
President Zuma said:
In summary, the benefits that accumulate from the teaching and promotion of chess in schools include the following:
- The game teaches patience. You have to give the opponent time and space to think and make his or her own move.
- It teaches that a decision must be an outcome of a serious thought process.
- Chess teaches discipline, for example as chess players would know, “touch is a move”. When you touch, you must move, you have to be disciplined.
- Chess teaches fairness. You alert the opponent before you strike, and keep them informed of your moves and intentions.
This growing support for chess around the world is great. Remember our previous post about the President of Azerbaijan also supporting chess? How cool!
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: Moves for Life, President Zuma, South Africa
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