Archive for July 22nd, 2009

The city of Tromsø, located within the Arctic Circle in Norway, has become a hot-bed of chess. Not only is Tromsø bidding for the Chess Olympiad 2014 – every year they stage a very attractive chess tournament in this beautiful location. This year the Arctic Challenge will be staged from August 1st to 9th, with 132 entries and lots of title holders – an ideal opportunity to make norms.

At Elo 2703 the 40-year-old Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk may be only the fifth seed in the 2009 Biel International Chess Festival, but everyone knows that he is one of the best players in the world (number three in the January 2009 list). In round three he showed his expertise in a rook and bishop ending to grind down the youngest participant Fabiano Caruana. Report and correction.

Judit Polgar burst on the scene in the late 80s and early 90s as a great attacking
player and tactician. But the strongest female in the history of the game can,
when necessary, maneuver and utilize the strategic advantages in a position.
She proves it a game against Vishy Anand that is the subject of this week’s
Playchess lecture by Dennis Monokroussos.
Be there to watch at 9 p.m. ET.

Judit Polgar burst on the scene in the late 80s and early 90s as a great attacking
player and tactician. But the strongest female in the history of the game can,
when necessary, maneuver and utilize the strategic advantages in a position.
She proves it a game against Vishy Anand that is the subject of this week’s
Playchess lecture by Dennis Monokroussos.
Be there to watch at 9 p.m. ET.

… with the opponent already controlling one long diagonal and about to occupy the second usually means red alert. Here White has played 30.Qe5 holding a pistol to Black’s head. What do you think about that?

A) A real knockout blow, forcing immediate resignation;
B) Not bad, but a surprising trick lets Black escape into an endgame;
C) The move is rubbish, throwing away White’s entire advantage.
The solution is here,
but first ponder it with a larger version of the diagram.