Anand preparation holds Gelfand in Game 6 as Kasparov opines

World Chess Championship 2012 6

Mark Crowther (Fri May 18 19:28:00 2012)

Boris Gelfand tried a different approach against Viswanathan Anand's Semi-Slav in Game 6 of the World Chess Championship in Moscow but the result was the same, a short draw. 6 draws, 3-3 at the halfway point. Yet again this was deep opening preparation from Anand that took him pretty much to the endgame. Whilst I'm sure the players weren't that happy to hear Kasparov was making a visit most probably everyone else was. Kasparov came with pearls of wisdom to cast before the journalistic swine. His theory was that Anand has been "sliding downhill" since 2008, that he lacked motivation, the draws were mostly Anand's fault because of his unambitious "Maginot Line", defensive wall tactics with black and that Gelfand best strategy (as he hasn't beaten Anand since 1993) was to heighten the tension by keeping the match level as long as possible as Anand is "not the most stable player psychologically." Transcript (that took much longer than I expected) below along with IM Malcolm Pein's notes combined with some Kasparov and Svidler suggestions. Game 7 with Gelfand white again follows on Sunday 3pm Moscow time, 12pm UK. Read more ....

• Europe-Echecs World Chess Championship 2012 Video Game 6
• Europe-Echecs World Chess Championship 2012 Video Game 5
• Gelfand comfortably holds the draw with black in World Championship Game 5
• Anand and Gelfand deadlocked at 2-2

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