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Hastings 2009-2010: Laudator temporis acti

29.12.2009 – That's a praiser of past times, conservative, old fashioned, classic. It describes our reporter at the International Chess Congress in Hastings – 28th December 2009 through to 5th January 2010 – but also the event itself. Steve Giddins, who received a Latin phrasebook for Christmas, is said reporter. We are using "oldstyle" ChessBase diagrams to keep him happy. Round one report. Andrew Martin: The Trompowsky - The easy way - 2nd Edition
Thirty years ago the Trompowsky opening was almost totally unknown. It took a few spectacular games by Rafael Vaganian to bring 2.Bg5 into the limelight, and after that, the die was cast. Today 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 is used by many of the best players in the world and a whole body of complicated theory has built up. More information...
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A tale of seven knights

29.12.2009 – Our 2009 Christmas Puzzle series is all about baffling computers. But that is not easy, given today's monster machines and super-smart programs. And sometimes a bit daunting for human beings, who do not always grasp what their electronic counterparts have missed. So today, as a relaxing prelude, we bring you an exhilarating story of a hippophile chess composer. Andrew Martin: The Trompowsky - The easy way - 2nd Edition
Thirty years ago the Trompowsky opening was almost totally unknown. It took a few spectacular games by Rafael Vaganian to bring 2.Bg5 into the limelight, and after that, the die was cast. Today 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 is used by many of the best players in the world and a whole body of complicated theory has built up. More information...
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Both kings threatened by discovered check…

28.12.2009 – ... was the situation in this recent game from the German Bundesliga, where White to play had to calculate the consequences of 27.Rf7-f4+. How would you assess the position after that (diagram)?
A) White is better; 
B) the position is balanced; 
C) Black has the advantage.

The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.
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Positions to tempt and torture your computer

28.12.2009 – If you are following our Christmas puzzles you will know that a new one is being posted every day and can be viewed by going to the index page (we do not post daily alerts). Number three showed a thrilling win, number four a clever positional draw, both theoretically very difficult for computers to comprehend. Some positions require a little lateral thinking by us humany. Give it a try. Andrew Martin: The Trompowsky - The easy way - 2nd Edition
Thirty years ago the Trompowsky opening was almost totally unknown. It took a few spectacular games by Rafael Vaganian to bring 2.Bg5 into the limelight, and after that, the die was cast. Today 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 is used by many of the best players in the world and a whole body of complicated theory has built up. More information...
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27.12.2009 – Alexander Grischuk and Peter Svidler both won in round six and drew in round seven to maintain their places at the top of the table. Grischuk has 5.0/7 with a 2833 performance, Svidler 4.5/7 at 2778. In the women's section Alisa Galliamova has conceded a single draw. She lead by a full point, with a 2868 performance, but can still be caught, e.g. by Nadezhda Kosintseva. Report by Misha Savinov. Читать дальше »