Archive for February 13th, 2010

The traditional Linares tournament has started today in Andalucia, Spain. It has been shrunk down to six players – in 2009 there were eight, and in previous years there have been up to 14. The category this time is 21, with an average Elo of 2757 (and no player below 2700). In round one all three games were drawn, but one was very interesting. Illustrated report with commentary by GM Anish Giri.

Some chess fans do not even know he is a person (not a place), many may be
surprised that he is a contemporary. Evgeny Ellinovich Sveshnikov is best known
for the Sicilian opening variation that bears his name. Sveshnikov has had a
long and illustrious career. For his 60th birthday the Russian magazine ChessPro
has prepared a moving portrait with some incredible historical photographs.