ChessBase Magazine Online

2012 Moscow Open won by Igor Lysyj and Marina Romanko
13.02.2012 – The classic Moscow Open was given renewed life and prestige as it was brought under the auspices of the Russian State Social University which expanded it to nine events, with the main Open, the Women's Open, student and amateur events, as well as the Fifth World Cup of Problem Solving, a Shogi tournament, and a qualifier for the World Blitz Chess Championship. Large illustrated report.
 

'Population growth' – some interesting facts about chess
12.02.2012 – Before you read this article try to guess: which countries in the world have the largest number of international chess players, i.e. people with a FIDE rating? Which countries are growing fastest? Which have the most GMs, which the strongest? How many GMs, IMs, FMs are there world-wide? Here are some very illuminating statistics collected by Boris Schipkov for Chess Siberia.
 

CBM training: Endgames from the Moscow Open
12.02.2012 – The Moscow Open ended last weekend (ChessBase report to follow shortly), with at least 60 GMs participating. Naturally there was a lot of exciting play, and our resident endgame expert GM Karsten Müller, whom you know from his popular ChessBase Magazin section, has picked three instructive endings that will help you to improve your practical play.
 

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (78)
11.02.2012 – In 1987 Olga Capablanca Clark mentioned to the Editor of Chess Notes an unknown game played by Capablanca and Tartakower in Paris in the late 1930s. She offered it for sale, but the reserve price was not reached. The game remained unpublished until this month, when its owner, David DeLucia, made it available for publication in Chess Notes. A wonderful episode.
 

Breaking news: Candidates 2012 to be held in London
10.02.2012 – It had been buzzing around vigorously in the Twitter world, but FIDE would not confirm anything. Now Sport Express has published a first announcement: the next Candidates Tournament will be held from October 23 to November 13 in London, England. Part of the arrangement is apparently to transfer the rights to the world championship cycle to a new sponsor. Interesting development.
 

Edge queens
10.02.2012 – With his last move 55.Re1-d1 (diagram) White had initiated a deflection manoeuvre to promote his passed h-pawn.
The capture 55...Rxd1 now leads to ...

A)... victory for Black
B)... perpetual check

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.
 

ICGA/Rybka controversy: An interview with David Levy (2)
10.02.2012 – On Monday we published part one of a lengthy interview we had conducted, via sequential email exchanges, with the President of the International Computer Games Association David Levy. The ICGA had found star programmer Vasik Rajlich guilty of "plagiarism" in his early program versions and banned him for life. Here now is part two of the interview.
 

2012 Aeroflot Open – Caruana leads with eight
10.02.2012 – The Aeroflot Open in Moscow, Russia, is the toughest open of the year, with three tournaments, including the A group with 86 players, 47 of whom are rated over 2600. Liem Le Quang used the event to catapult to the elite, with two straight win, but after three rounds, Italian Fabianao Caruana leads with 2.5/3 and is currently 2768 and world seventh in the live ratings. Report and games.
 

2012 Aeroflot Open – Caruana leads with eight
10.02.2012 – The Aeroflot Open in Moscow, Russia, is the toughest open of the year, with three tournaments, including the A group with 86 players, 47 of whom are rated over 2600. Liem Le Quang used the event to catapult to the elite, with two straight wins, but after three rounds, Italian Fabiano Caruana leads with 2.5/3 and is currently 2768 and world seventh in the live ratings. Report and games.
 

Aronian-Kramnik: a diamond-studded encounter
09.02.2012 – It will be the first match in history in which both players are rated over 2800. From April 21 to 28, 2012, the world's number two, Levon Aronian, will play the world's number three, Vladimir Kramnik, in the time-honored Hotel Savoy Baur en Ville in Zurich, Switzerland – the venue of many a famous chess event in the past. The match is sponsored by the diamond industry. Press release.
 

Neiman/Afek: Invisible Chess Moves
09.02.2012 – Every chess player knows that some moves are harder to see than others. Why is it that, frequently, uncomplicated wins simply do not enter your mind? A new book investigates the blind spots from which even strong grandmasters suffer and which obscure some of their best ideas during a game. The examples in this review, all taken from the Tata Steel tournament, are for you to solve.
 

Congratulations – Yuri Averbakh turns ninety!
08.02.2012 – He was a world class player, knew Emanuel Lasker personally, beat a number of World Champions ( Euwe, Botvinnik, Petrosian) and has a number of chess openings named after him. In addition Yuri Averbakh, born on February 8, 1922, has composed hundreds of endgame studies, written books and edited magazines. Averbakh is currently the oldest living chess grandmaster.