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 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.
 

CHESS Magazine: A crushing sacrifice at Simpson's
08.02.2012 – It was the closing dinner of the London Chess Classic 2011, where it is tradition for the tournament GMs to play a sequential simul against the individual tables. At one there was the Shadow Secretary to the Treasury Rachel Reeves, together with other notables. With some minimal assistance Rachel found a nice bishop sac to win the game. No wonder: she was a UK U14 girls champion.
 

Mega Database 2012 – Something for Everyone
08.02.2012 – It contains 5.1 million games, 66,000 with annotations by strong players. In the course of this year it will updated itself automatically with 200,000 new games. "Everyone should get this database – it is obviously a must buy for any serious tournament player or analyst who uses ChessBase," writes Steven B. Dowd and gives it six out of six stars in this Chess Cafe review.
 

Chess Problems: Solutions and a bonus from Pal Benko
07.02.2012 – Here are the solutions to the last installment of problems by David Friedgood. A pleasing addition is a contribution from GM Pal Benko, who noticed the interest in the Novotny and sent us a two-mover and a highly enjoyable study which he composed on this theme. Certainly the study is a classic and one which every aficionado of chess art should know perfectly.
 

Dragan Solak wins Turkish Championship
06.02.2012 – It was his first Turkish Championship, and GM Dragan Solak took the title with a final-round win. Dragan has recently completed his transfer from the Serbian Chess Federation to the TCF and will represent the Turkish national team at the next Olympiad. Once again we bring you great photos and personal impressions from Kemer and Antalya, provided by WGM Anatasiya Karlovich.
 

ICGA/Rybka controversy: An interview with David Levy (1)
06.02.2012 – He is a star chess programmer with an unbroken record of supremacy in computer chess during the past five years. In June 2011 the International Computer Games Association found Vasik Rajlich guilty of "plagiarism" in early program versions and banned him for life. We published a vigorous defence of Rajlich and a rebuttal by ICGA President David Levy, who promised us an indepth interview.