Added on 09.22.2023
THE SWISS SYSTEM GM Yannick Pelletier - Photo: Niklesh Jain / chessbaseindia - Source: chessbase.com Today is the birthday of Grandmaster Yannick Pelletier, born in Biel, Switzerland, on September 22, 1976. Yannick is a six-time National Champion between 1995 and 2017. Pelletier has been the first Swiss to get a rating over 2600, with his best of 2624 elo points in January 2003. He is one of the most appreciated commentators, and Yannick obtained a prestigious victory over Magnus Carlsen in...Full StoryAdded on 09.22.2023
IM Malcolm Pein September 19, 2023 TO THE general relief of the chess world, the lawsuit between world number one Magnus Carlsen and the American GM Hans Niemann has been settled. The terms have not been disclosed. Niemann sued Carlsen last October, after the then world champion appeared to accuse him of cheating, following his defeat at Niemann’s hands at the Sinquefield Cup. Carlsen withdrew from the tournament the following day. Chess.com then weighed in with a dossier alleging...Full StoryAdded on 09.21.2023
THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE PLEIADES Paul Rudolf von Bilguer Source: clubescassantandreu.blogspost.com Today, we remember Paul Rudolf von Bilguer, born in Ludwigslust, Germany, on September 21, 1815. Lieutenant of the Prussian army, he left the service to write the first real Chess encyclopedia, that is the "Handbuch des schachspiel." He could not finish his masterpiece because of his premature death when he was only 25 years old. His work was finished by Tassilo von der Lasa, another member...Full StoryAdded on 09.21.2023
IM Malcolm Pein September 19, 2023 GARRY Kasparov made a rare return to the board earlier this month at the Saint Louis Chess Club and led after the first day of the 2023 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX (Chess960 or Fischer Random). The 13th world champion scored excellent victories over Wesley So and Ray Robson and drew with Hikaru Nakamura to end the day in clear first place with 2.5/3. Thereafter, the 13th world champion faded and ended eighth in the 10-player all-play-all, as Sam...Full StoryAdded on 09.20.2023
FRIEND FRITZ Praga 1942: Cenek Kottnauer-Friedrich Sämisch Photo: British Chess News - Source: chessbase.com Today, we remember Grandmaster Friedrich (Fritz) Sämisch, born in Charlottenburg, Germany, on September 20, 1896. Fritz was German champion in 1920 and Austrian Champion in 1921. He was one of the first chess professionals. Famous is his "lucky" 1929 win over Capablanca in Karlsbad. Sämisch has tied his name to two important opening variations: one in the East Indian and the second...Full StoryAdded on 09.20.2023
IM Malcolm Pein September 20, 2023 OCCASIONALLY, the maxim “never give up” pays dividends, even at the top level. Black is comprehensively outplayed right from the opening but hangs in before swindling the 2021 world title challenger in this online game. In opposite-bishop middlegames, it’s the side with the more active pieces and more potent bishop who usually prevails; a pawn or two does not always matter. I Nepomniachtchi – V Fedoseev Julius Baer Cup Division 2 Petroff...Full StoryAdded on 09.19.2023
THIRTY FOR TER GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan - Source: fide.com Today is the birthday of GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, born in Vanadzor, Armenia, on September 19, 1993. Samvel is one of the strongest players in Armenia. He won the World Championship U10 in 2003, the European Championship U18 in 2009, and the World Championship U18 in 2011. Ter-Sahakyan won the Armenian Championship in 2020. His peak rating was 2645, reached in 2021. Levon Babujian (2474)-Samvel Ter Sahakyan (2569), Yerevan (campionato...Full StoryAdded on 09.19.2023
IM Malcolm Pein September 19, 2023 THE England Women’s team for the European Team Championships to be staged at Budva in Montenegro this November has been announced. The squad is the strongest ever assembled since England’s women secured bronze medals at the European Team Championships in 1997 and 2001. IM Jovanka Houska 2340; IM Harriet Hunt 2316; WIM Lan Yao 2315; WGM Katarzyna Toma 2224; FM Akshaya Kalaiyalahan 2168; Captain GM Stuart Conquest. At the last European Team...Full StoryAdded on 09.18.2023
THE TALENT OF TASHKENT Nodirbek Abdusattorov - Photo: Maria Emelianova Today is the birthday of GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on September 18, 2004. Nodirbek was the World Champion Under 8 in 2012 and defeated a GM when he was nine years old. Abdusattorov became a GrandMaster at 13. In 2021, he won the World Rapid Championship in Varsavia, and in 2022, he unexpectedly led his country team to win the Olympiad in Chennai, India, winning the Silver medal on board...Full StoryAdded on 09.18.2023
IM Malcolm Pein September 18, 2023 ALEXANDER Grischuk triumphed at the Tata Steel India Blitz Open in Kolkata. The Russian world number 18 racked up a healthy 12/18, losing only once to Arjun Erigaisi, while defeating the Indian’s compatriots, Vidit Gujrathi, Dommaraju Gukesh and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, as well as Vincent Keymer and the winner of the Rapid event, which preceded the Blitz, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Praggnanandhaa tied for second, a...Full StoryAdded on 09.17.2023
IM Malcolm Pein September 17, 2023 “Great players are hard to beat” is a well-worn cliché. From time to time, one comes across an example of what that means in practice. Fabiano Caruana was faced with elimination from the World Cup at the hands of Leinier Dominguez. The world number two defended superbly in a lost endgame. L Dominguez – F Caruana var viewer = new CHESS.PgnViewer({ pgn_uri: 'https://www.chessclub.com/assets/PGN/DT_Sep_17_2023.pgn', piece_set:...Full StoryAdded on 09.16.2023
IM Malcolm Pein September 16, 2023 IDEAS to counter Queens Pawn systems with a Bishop on f4 or g5 are a key part of any aspiring player’s repertoire or that of the casual player online, since so many players like to open with the London System, the Torre Attack, or a variant of either. A counter-attacking option is to try and exploit the early departure of the white Bishop from the queenside, either by harassing it or trying to exchange it for the king’s knight. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 c6...Full StoryAdded on 09.15.2023
The second Levitov Chess Week presents 10 Super-GMs on the starting blocks: GM Viswanathan Anand GM Levon Aronian GM Daniil Dubov GM Boris Gelfand GM Alexander Grischuk GM Vladimir Kramnik GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov GM Ian Nepomniachtchi GM Wesley So GM Peter Svidler The event starts on September 22 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Here is the schedule: Date Round Time Sep 22, 2023 1 9:00 AM ET 2 10:00 AM ET 3 11:00 AM...Full StoryAdded on 09.15.2023
LUNATIC Praga 2019: GM Peter Michalik Photo: Vladimir Jagr - Source: en.chessbase.com Today is GM Peter Michalik's birthday, born in Bojnice, Slovakia, on September 15, 1990. Three times Slovak champion, in 2017, Michalik placed second - tied with Luke Mcshane - in the European Blitz Championship, behind Sergey Zhigalko. In 2023 Michalik participated in the FIDE World Cup, losing to Ivanisevic. Michalik reached his peak rating in 2020 with a respectable 2605 points. On the online chess...Full StoryAdded on 09.15.2023
IM Malcolm Pein September 15, 2023 MAXIME Vachier-Lagrave was the winner of the 5th Tata Steel India Rapid at Kolkata, remaining undefeated to score 7/9 against a 2700+ rated field. The Indian top five, Vishy Anand excepted, were involved, as well as former Candidates Alexander Grischuk of Russia and Azeri number one Teimour Radjabov. The Frenchman finished a full 1.5 points clear of Rajdabov. Even if he had not pulled off this fine swindle, MVL would still have won the...Full StoryAdded on 09.14.2023
THE COUNTER-GAMBIT MAN Adolf Albin - source: @olimpiuurcan Today, we remember Master Adolf Albin, who was born in Bucharest, Romania, on September 14, 1848 Albin got his best result in New York in 1893, placing second behind Emanuel Lasker. He is wrongly considered a second-tier player; in his career, he defeated monsters such as Steinitz, Pillsbury, Tarrasch, Janowski, Teichmann, and Blackburne. Albin is the author of the first chess book in Romanian, and his name being famous in the...Full StoryAdded on 09.14.2023
IM Malcolm Pein September 14, 2023 MAGNUS Carlsen’s winning streak continued, as he defeated Alireza Firouzja in the final of the Julius Baer Generation Cup to secure his third victory on the $2 million Champions Tour and augment his winnings with the $30,000 first prize. Carlsen is odds on favourite to win the Champions Chess Tour a third time at the concluding event in Toronto in December where his opponents will include Hikaru Nakamura, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Fabiano Caruana, and...Full StoryAdded on 09.13.2023
EL SANTO HAPPY BIRTHDAY - GM Marco Santo-Roman Source: ladepeche.fr Today, we celebrate the birthday of GM Marc Santo-Roman, who was born in Toulouse, France, on September 13, 1960. He was three times Champion of France (1990, 1991, and 1994) and represented his country in three Chess Olympiads. Santo-Roman got his peak rating in 1991, with 2500 ELO points. During his career, he got a draw with the great Kasparov in the 1997 U17 World Championship and a win over Spassky in the 1992 French...Full StoryAdded on 09.13.2023
IM Malcolm Pein September 13, 2023 THERE was a major upset in the Tata Steel Chess India Women’s Rapid in Kolkata, as the lowest-rated player, Indian WGM Divya Deshmukh, triumphed with 7/9 to edge out women’s world champion Ju Wenjun by half a point. Divya, 17, was a late replacement and started well. 3/3 on the second day left her the clear leader on 5.5/6. She suffered her first defeat against Polina Shuvalova in the penultimate round but recovered to outplay compatriot and...Full StoryAdded on 09.12.2023
THE GENIUS OF THE ABSURD HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Chess Olympiad in Salonicco, 1988: GM Constantin Ionescu (Brasov 12/09/1958) Photo: Archiv Jacoby Source: chessbase.com Today is GM Constantin Ionescu's Birthday. He was born in Brasov, Romania, on September 12, 1958. In his career, he's been eight times on the podium of the Romanian Championship: First, tied with Mihail Marin in 1999, he then got four second places and three bronze medals. Between 1986 and 2000, Ionescu participated in eight...Full Story