Gelfand finally breaks through against Anand to take 4-3 World Championship lead

World Chess Championship 2012 7

Mark Crowther (Sun May 20 21:03:00 2012)

Boris Gelfand won the 7th game of the World Chess Championship in Moscow against Viswanathan Anand finally breaking the deadlock after 6 draws. This is his first win against Anand at a classical time control since a 29 move game at the Biel Interzonal of 1993. Gelfand played 6.c5 against Anand's Semi-Slav and got a small positional advantage. Anand soon didn't much like his position and he said after "I started to drift a little bit in the opening and the rest revolved around my bishop on c8", Anand added he didn't like his 20....Rab8. 21....Ne4 seems to have been a real error and 23...g5 showed he was desperate "In a bad position usually all moves are bad". Gelfand confidently moved in for the kill, calmly ignored Anand's inadequate counter-attack and threatened mate himself to force resignation. This was one of the most interesting openings and this decisive game will hopefully intensify the battle for the remaining games. IM Malcolm Pein looks at the game and has quotes from Peter Leko and Anatoly Karpov who were in the commentary box. Game 8 Anand-Gelfand Monday 12pm BST. 15:00 Moscow time. Read more ....

• Henrik Danielsen video of Gelfand-Anand Gm7
• Kasparov Simul at the World Chess Championship
• Anand-Gelfand World Championship Game 5 another draw
• Anand preparation holds Gelfand in Game 6 as Kasparov opines

US Chess Championship Recaps for 2012

US Chess Championships 2012 Videos

Mark Crowther (Thu May 17 17:44:00 2012)

The live coverage of the US Chess Championships fronted by Jennifer Shahade, Ben Finegold and Mike Klein and produced by Macauley Peterson has been a lot of fun as have the player interviews. Watch the daily recaps. Read more ....

• US Chess Championships 2012
• Pre-Tourney Favorites Pull Ahead at U.S. Championships
• Nakamura and Kamsky held in second round of US Championship
• Favourites win in round 1 bloodbath at the US Championships

20th Sigeman and Co Malmo 2012

20th Sigeman and Co Malmo 2012 Games and Results

Mark Crowther (Wed May 16 21:40:00 2012)

The 20th anniversary of the first Sigeman and Co tournament took place in Malmo 9th-16th May 2012. Top seed Fabiano Caruana added yet more rating points this year with 5,5.7 and a 2853 performance. Peter Leko took second place with 5/7. Anish Giri won in the final round to hold on to most of his rating points with 4/7. Giri has had exams this year and his play has gone slightly backwards but I think school is important and there isn't much to worry about. Nils Grandelius gained a lot finishing on the same score. Read more ....

Win a Playstation 3 and PURE Chess Game in Caption Competition

Caption Competition PS3 and Pure Chess

Mark Crowther (Fri May 11 11:03:00 2012)

CHESS Magazine in conjunction with PURE Chess has a fantastic caption competition where the prize is a PlayStation 3 with Pure Chess' new chess software on it. Full details as to how to enter below. Closing date for entries: 31st May 2012. Winner will be announced in early July 2012. Read more ....

Ivanchuk leads Capablanca Memorial at the half way stage

47th Capablanca Memorial 2012 5.2

Mark Crowther (Wed May 9 16:25:00 2012)

Vassily Ivanchuk leads the 47th Capablanca Memorial with 3.5/5 going into the rest day. Ivanchuk completely outplayed Viktor Laznicka in a complex Nimzo Indian. Vladimir Potkin beat Yuniesky Quesada Perez with a conversion to a winning King and Pawn ending that proved deceptive for his opponent. Ian Nepomniachtchi's disappointing play continues with a dull draw against Leinier Dominguez Perez. Read more ....

• Ivanchuk, Dominguez and Laznicka on 2.5/4 at the Capablanca Memorial
• Dominguez and Ivanchuk share lead after 3 rounds of Capablanca Memorial
• Ivanchuk leads the Capablanca Memorial after two rounds
• 47th Capablanca Memorial 2012