The capital city of Iceland is a popular place among chess players. Reykjavik gave home to one of the strongest open tournaments of the year, the Reykjavik Open, this time from the 29th of March to the 4th of April. The nine-round Swiss system had a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment starting on move one. The 401 participants came Read more…
The Women’s Candidates Final between Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie determined who will challenge the reigning Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun in July. Both players could enjoy the home field, as the event was in Chongqing, China. The six-game match gave us a lot of fighting chess with decisive games. You can read more about the system of the tournament and the previous matches here: Pool A, Pool B Tan Zhongyi Tan Zhongyi is a Read more…
As the world is preparing for a long-anticipated dispute over the World Chess Champion title, this time between GM Ding Liren, and GM Ian Nepomniatchi, it’s worth taking a brief look at how chess has developed over time, as a competitive sport, a leisure activity and an educational tool. In this article, we will explore some of the most important moments in the history of chess, ending our journey with the following question: what does Read more…
Magnus Carlsen is currently playing in the Norwegian Poker Championship in Bratislava, Slovakia. He is one of 435 players, out of 680, who made it through Day 1. Before the Norwegian Poker Championship started, Magnus made an Instagram story, which interested his fans and people in the chess community. Yesterday, Magnus posted another photo on his Instagram with the caption “Can’t read my, can’t read my” which refers to the song “Poker Face” by Lady Read more…
It all started with GM Zhansaya Abdumalik pulling out of the tournament on Saturday and continued with GM Elisabeth Paehtz pulling out on Sunday. What is the story behind their withdrawal? The FIDE Women´s Grand Prix 2023 is the first-ever Grand Prix tournament played on Indian soil in New Delhi. You can read more information about the system of the Women´s Grand Prix series in our article from the 2nd WGP. The start of 3rd Read more…
The Saint Louis Chess Club gave home to the American Cup from the 16th to the 26th of March. American Cup has an unusual format, an eight-player double-elimination bracket. It allows each competitor to be eliminated twice, and it has twice as many rounds as a single elimination. The defeated players can continue the tournament in the Elimination Bracket, which runs alongside the Championship Bracket, where the undefeated players are playing. The time control was 90 Read more…
Kiolbasa Oliwia from Poland defeated Bulmaga Irina in round 6 and got herself a half-point lead ahead of Socko Monika and Narva Mai. This year, Montenegro Chess Federation, cooperating with European Chess Union, had the honor of organizing the 23rd European Women’s Chess Championship. The event takes place from 17th to 30th March in Petrovac, Montenegro. The format is an 11-round Swiss System with a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 Read more…
Alejandro Ramirez is a 34-years old Costa Rican-American grandmaster, coach and commentator and was recently accused by eight women of sexually assaulting them in an article published by The Wall Street Journal. It all started when WGM Jennifer Shade (two-time United States women’s champion, author and commentator, who worked alongside Ramirez for many years) tweeted on the 15th of February claiming that she has been sexually assaulted by Ramirez twice and that she also saw alarming Read more…
GM Alexey Sarana (2668) becomes the new Champion after winning the European Chess Championship 2023 in Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia. The tiebreak criteria decided the final standing, with 3 players having 8,5 points. The European Chess Championship 2023 from 2nd to 14th March was an 11-round tournament with a time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment from move 1. Read more…
Walsrode gave home to The Chessemy Open, which was held from the 4th to the 12th of March. The nine-round swiss system tournament has a decent prize fund of €6500. The players had to have a rating higher than 1800, which resulted in a strong tournament. 86 participants with 4 grandmasters and many other titled players. From the beginning, IM Das Sayantan from India took the lead with 3 straight wins, which was followed by two Read more…
