Chess Blog

36th European Club Cup 2021 - Games and Results 17/09/2021
The 36th European Club Cup takes place in Struga, North Macedonia 18th-24th September 2021. World Champion Magnus Carlsen, Alexander Grischuk, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov are the top players. The women's event is in the same town but different venue.
Mark Crowther
9th EY Norway Chess 2021 - Games and Results 17/09/2021
The 9th Norway Chess tournament, this year sponsored by EY, took place 7th to 17th September. As in the last edition an Armageddon game was played if the main classical game is drawn. Players: Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Richard Rapport, Sergey Karjakin, Alireza Firouzja and Aryan Tari. The event was a 6 player 10 round […]
Mark Crowther
FIDE Online Olympiad 2021 - Games and Results 15/09/2021
The FIDE Online Olympiad took place Fri 20th Aug 2021 to Wednesday 15th Sep 2021. 153 teams entered. The event had various qualification stages - as the event progresses stronger teams join the tournament running from Division 4 up to the top division before the final KO where the medals were decided. The event was […]
Mark Crowther
Champions Showdown 9LX 2021 - Games and Results 08/09/2021
The Champions Showdown 9LX is a rapid Fischer Random/Chess960 event that takes place 8th to 10th September 2021. Players: Garry Kasparov, Fabiano Caruana, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Levon Aronian, Wesley So, Leinier Dominguez Perez, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hikaru Nakamura, Peter Svidler and Sam Shankland. I don't have the ability to display the games.
Mark Crowther
European Individual Chess Championship 2021 - Games and Results 06/09/2021
The European Individual Chess Championship took place in Reykjavik 26th August to 5th September. Leading players: Gawain Jones, Gabriel Sargissian, David Navara, Matthias Bluebaum, Dieter Nisipeanu Liviu, Nils Grandelius, Constantin Lupulescu, Alexander Donchenko, Nijat Abasov etc 34 year old Anton Demchenko edged out 16 year old Vincent Keymer on tie-break after both scored 8.5/11.
Mark Crowther
Aimchess US Rapid 2021 - Games and Results 05/09/2021
The Aimchess US Rapid was the last qualifying event of the 2021 Meltwater Chess Tour before the final starting September 25th. A 9 event 2022 series has already been announced starting in February. This rapid took place 28th August to 5th September 2021. Players: Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Anish Giri, Wesley So, Alireza […]
Mark Crowther

ECF

Election Addresses – AGM 2021 15/09/2021
WebAdmin
International Children and Youth Festival 15/09/2021
The International Children and Youth Festival «ChessYes» is an official side event to the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss 2021 to be...
WebAdmin
Nominations for Elections at the 2021 AGM 14/09/2021
WebAdmin
Complaint under Regulation 5 13/09/2021
A complaint under Regulation 5 was received by Julian Clissold and Stephen Woodhouse. The complaint was raised by Rob Willmoth in relation to correspondence between...
WebAdmin
England at the FIDE Online Olympiad 2021 08/09/2021
Good luck to the England team, who are playing this week in the top division of the FIDE Online Olympiad. You can see the players,...
Danny Rosenbaum
A note for parents on ECF membership 08/09/2021
In order to cut down the appreciable load on ECF membership admin at this busy time, parents please note the following on the Rates and...
WebAdmin

Chessbase

Hou Yifan Challenge: Pragg keeps up the pace 20/09/2021
Apparently there is no stopping Praggnanandhaa at the Hou Yifan Challenge for young stars. The Indian prodigy has won all 9 of his games so far in the rapid tournament taking place online. Vincent Keymer is currently in second place, two points behind Pragg, albeit with one game less to his name. Keymer will face […]
Do pawns disregard Einstein? 19/09/2021
A pawn promotion is a huge event in a chess game, as the energy garnered by the pawn advancing up the board is transformed in a most un-Einsteinian way (surely a pawn’s advance doesn’t create that much energy) into serious amounts of matter. Star columnist Jon Speelman looks at overwhelming pawn avalanches, and analyses a […]
Understanding before Moving 44: Attacking with opposite-coloured bishops 19/09/2021
Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 44th instalment of his ChessBase show “Understanding before Moving”, Herman shows how to attack with opposite-coloured bishops. | Photo: Tommy Grooten
European Club Cup - Live! 19/09/2021
From 18 to 24 September, some of the best European chess players will be competing with their teams at the European Club Cup and the European Women’s Club Cup. The Norwegian team Offerspill has Magnus Carlsen in its roster, while Alkaloid arrive as the top seed, headed by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Sam Shankland. The event […]
Hou Yifan Challenge: Pragg still perfect 18/09/2021
Day 1 of the Hou Yifan Challenge, the last regular event of the Julius Baer Challengers Tour, saw Praggnanandhaa scoring five wins in as many games to take the sole lead. Vincent Keymer won his first four games, but lost against Christopher Yoo in the final round of the day, and now stands in sole […]
Carlsen wins Norway Chess, Firouzja shines 18/09/2021
Magnus Carlsen beat Ian Nepomniachtchi in Armageddon to secure first place at the 2021 Norway Chess Tournament. This is the world champion’s third straight triumph in his home super-tournament. Alireza Firouzja had a great performance, ending the tournament with four wins in a row to get sole second place and climb to ninth place in […]

lichess.org

Nihal Sarin Wins Titled Arena 19/09/2021
GM Nihal Sarin won the Lichess Bullet Titled Arena on Saturday, his second overall Titled Arena victory. With so many promising Indian juniors it can be hard to remember that Nihal is at the top of the “next generation,” and with Anand still sitting at #1 it could be said that there is more than […]
@NoJoke
Norway Chess Kicks Off Despite Nepomniachtchi Niggle 08/09/2021
The 9th edition of Norway Chess kicks off - despite Nepomniachtchi missing his flightNorway Chess, the closed invitational which takes place in Norway’s third largest city - Stavanger - started at 17:00 local time today. The tournament has been played annually since 2013, and has quickly developed a reputation for being one of the strongest […]
@Cynosure
Anonymous GM wins Titled Arena, again. (...and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov!) 06/09/2021
The anonymous GM Arka50 won the September Lichess Blitz Titled Arena on Saturday by a comfortable 9 point margin. Another anonymous GM, Feeglood finished in 2nd. Arka50 took the leader’s position 30 minutes into the three hour event, and with an hour left their lead had grown to 20 points. They faltered slightly in the […]
@NoJoke
Titled Arena Announcement(s) 28/08/2021
Announcing our schedule for upcoming Titled Arenas!We're pleased to announce a schedule for our upcoming Titled Arenas! All events will be preceded by a warm-up arena open to all players with a minimum of 20 rated games in the relevant time control (excluding 960 warm-up, where the minimum rated games are 10). Prizes unless otherwise […]
Lichess Team
European Women Championship - Elina Danielian Wins, Upcoming Players Impress 24/08/2021
The 21st European Individual Women Chess Championship, which started on 9th August was concluded on the 20th. With 11 rounds played, or just a little less than 640 games, this event treated us with a lot of thrills, brilliant games, and upsets. You can find all the games here. [Title image credit - Vlad Ghita] […]
@Konstantinos07
Titled Arena won by Penguins and Hot Tubs 22/08/2021
In this blog post you will see the most discussion of the #193rd ranked player that you will ever see in one of these reports. But first! Let's discuss the winner. GM Andrew Tang won the August 2021 Bullet Titled Arena yesterday by a comfortable 25 point margin. Others kept pace with Tang, until he […]
@NoJoke

Chess24

Hou Yifan Challenge 2: Praggnanandhaa makes it 9/9! 20/09/2021
Indian chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa won all four games of his games on Day 2 of the Hou Yifan Challenge to reach a perfect 9/9 score as the 4th stage of the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour crossed the halfway mark. That put him two ahead of Vincent Keymer in 2nd place, but Vincent has played […]
Hou Yifan Challenge 1: Praggnanandhaa perfect 19/09/2021
16-year-old Indian prodigy Praggnanandhaa scored a perfect 5/5 on Day 1 of the Hou Yifan Challenge, including a win over his older sister Vaishali. Pragg was matched for four rounds by Kramnik Challenge winner Vincent Keymer, until US star Christopher Yoo defeated the German in a tense final round of the day. Christopher is in […]
Magnus Carlsen wins 4th Norway Chess title 18/09/2021
“I came away with absolutely everything I could have hoped for,” said Magnus Carlsen after winning Norway Chess for a 3rd year in a row and a 4th time in total. He did it with another Armageddon win over his World Championship Challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, who called his own performance “completely disgusting”. Alireza Firouzja took […]
Norway Chess 9: Carlsen wins 4th in a row, Firouzja in Top 10 17/09/2021
Magnus Carlsen goes into the final round of Norway Chess against Ian Nepomniachtchi as the tournament leader after picking up a 4th win in a row, but he admitted he’d been outplayed and in huge danger against Sergey Karjakin. Richard Rapport trails Magnus by 1.5 points after losing to Ian Nepomniachtchi in Armageddon, while the […]
World’s youngest GM joins field for Hou Yifan Challenge 17/09/2021
12-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra, the youngest chess grandmaster in history, is among the 17-player field for the Hou Yifan Challenge, the 4th and final event on the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour before next month’s final. The favourites for the tournament, which kicks off on Saturday 18th September, are previous winners Praggnanandhaa and Vincent Keymer, as […]
Magnus Carlsen appears in hilarious reality TV show 16/09/2021
The chess world has gotten used to seeing Magnus Carlsen appear on TV shows, but the world champion appearing in a reality show is a first. On Friday VG TV releases "Ikke lov å le på hytta" ("Don't laugh at the cabin"), where Carlsen is among 12 of Norway's most funny comedians and influencers are […]

thechessworld

Bogo-Indian Defense with GM Marian Petrov [TCW Academy] 19/09/2021
Looking for a quick-and-easy surprise weapon against 1.d4? Tired of playing the mainlines and getting inferior positions in your theoretical battles? Want to score quick points with Black? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, look no further. GM Marian Petrov presents a 3-hour crash course on Bogo-Indian Defense for Black [1. d4 […]
Yury Markushin
Top 7 Chess Calculation Mistakes to Avoid 16/09/2021
Many club players believe that tactics is the main reason they are stuck at that 1200, 1400, or 1800 level. And they are mostly correct. The ability to solve tactics greatly increases your chances to conquer the next rating bracket. What could be more powerful than training tactics? The answer is simple. Working on your […]
Yury Markushin
5 Things About Chess Pieces You Didn’t Know 10/09/2021
According to a legend, Napoleon Bonaparte knew the names of all of his soldiers. I am not sure if this is true or just a myth, but I can assure you that in chess, it is not enough to know the names of the pieces to win. You should also be aware of their best […]
Yury Markushin
Sicilian Defense Dragon Variation with GM Marian Petrov [TCW Academy] 03/09/2021
The Dragon Variation is considered one of the best attempts for countering White’s ambitious 1.e4 move. If you’re playing for a win with Black and won’t settle for a draw… the Dragon Variation is the opening for you. Aggressive, attacking, razor-sharp are only a few words describing the full potential of Sicilian Dragon. Take your […]
Yury Markushin
Chess Middlegames: Complete Guide 02/09/2021
Many ways can help improve at chess, but most players tend to prefer studying openings. It is the easiest way indeed: the exact moves you prepare at home are likely to happen in one of your future games. With middlegames, it is more complicated. It is impossible to predict exactly what positions you will have […]
Jesus Gonzalez
Endgame for Club Players Vol.2 with IM Mat Kolosowski [TCW Academy] 02/09/2021
If you think simple rook or king + pawn endings are all there is to learn when it comes to chess endgames… You are WRONG! Endgames are the most technical phase of the game. Where the first move might give you an advantage, the second one might be neutral, and the third one might make […]
Yury Markushin

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