Archive for August 22nd, 2009

Another exciting round: Israeli GM Boris Gelfand beat former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov with the black pieces, knocking the Uzbek from the lead trio and into the chasing pack. Gelfand joined him, Alekseev and Aronian, a half-point behind the leaders. The thrilling conclusion comes on Sunday, with the games starting at 13:30 (instead of 15:00) local time = GMT+4. R12 report.

For a number of years now, the annual Russia versus China match has served as an opportunity for the perennial powerhouse to match wits with the rising star. Russia took the inaugural match, but China took the next three. Last year, dissatisfied with recent results, Russia turned the tables once more. This year marks the sixth such much and China currently looms large.

This Dutch event pits five talented young players against five older and experienced colleagues. In the past the latter kept getting whupped, so the organisers decided that the Experience team needed a little less experience and a little more youthful energy. The strategy seems to be succeeding, as the younger older players are in the lead after two rounds.

Steve Giddins on GMs and GOMs.

The Fifth FIDE Grand Prix continues to produce fighting chess. A relatively low 61% of the games so far were drawn, but only two of 47 draws were in less than 25 moves. In round eleven there was one 31-mover, the rest 40 moves or more. And two decisive games, which however left the top of the table unchanged. Full report with more beautiful

pictures by Arman Karakhanyan.

In our continuing ChessBase Workshop series discussing Fritz11 features for beginners we look at Fritz’ electronic chess coach. Need a hint? Want a takeback? The Fritz Coach not only lets you take back moves but also alerts you to your errors in the first place. Learn more about the Coach feature in the newest ChessBase Workshop.