21.02.2010– Once again: the result sounds boring, the games on the other hand were electrifying. Not, we hasten to add, due to their flawless perfection on the contrary, they demonstrate that these are humans playing at the boards. Humans with nerves and frailties. The result left Veselin Topalov still in the lead by a point and a half, and the tail ender Vallejo the tragic hero of the event.
17.02.2010– In addition to
reports on top tournaments and games analysed by world class players,
every issue of ChessBase Magazine contains,
lots of training designed to help ambitious club players. There is, for
example, the column "Move by Move" by the English grandmaster
Daniel King. We
have put together some screenshots to show you how it works in practical
terms.
16.02.2010– Our GM analyst Anish Giri sent us the following message: "Topalov: novelty, draw; Aronian: ending, technical, still draw; Grischuk: strange prep, maybe even worse, draw." That may be the shortest round wrap-up ever. Indeed after some very exciting games the three draws in round four were fairly uneventful. Draw ratio so far: 83%. Games, results, pictures.
16.02.2010– This is what happens when you travel half-way around the globe, accept more and more opponents in a strong simul, agree to play with white and black pieces, and start at 1 a.m. body time. You blunder a game against a 12-year-old and make it into the Canadian press. Alexei Shirov showed great sporting spirit in this Ottawa simul. Gordon Ritchie reports.
16.02.2010– Five players lead with 5.0/7 points in the A groupe of this prestigious Moscow open tournament two Vietnamese and three Russians. Eleven GMs from various nations following half a point behind. The female players start at place 48. There are a lot of very nice but uncaptioned pictures on the official tournament site. Thanks for the help in identifying them there are still a few names missing.