'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
We were going to start this week's column with a preview of the coming Anand-Carlsen world title match when word came over the weekend of the passing of New York GM Robert Byrne at the age of 84.
Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen's moonwalking gambit getting ahead while moving backward inspires some thoughts on some of the game's most famous losses over the years.
The first great tournament of the new year kicked off Saturday with the 75th Tata Steel Tournament in the fabled Dutch chess town of Wijk aan Zee, with an all-star field in the premiere event capped by world No. 1 seed Magnus Carlsen of Norway, Armenian star Levon Aronian and U.S. champion Hikaru Nakamura.
'Tis the season to roll up the board, pack up the pieces and put some fresh batteries in the old chess clock: The 39th annual Eastern Open, a four-day extravaganza, kicks off Dec. 27 at its longtime home at the Westin Washington D.C. City Center hotel at 1400 M St. NW.
The future is now — right now — for American chess, as New York IM Marc Arnold has claimed his first U.S. Junior title, and the U.S. Cadet Championship, featuring the country’s top players younger than 16 years old, is wrapping up in Rockville.
Holding off a battalion of younger challengers, a pair of well-seasoned veterans secured the top places on the chess leaderboard at the 40th World Open, which wrapped up Sunday at its traditional home in Philadelphia.
Cue the chorus of "Sunrise, Sunset." In one more sign that kids grow up fast these days, 17-year-old prodigy GM Anish Giri had what for him rates as a novel experience: losing to a younger player. At the 13th European Individual Championship now under way in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, the reigning Dutch national champ fell to 15-year-old fellow prodigy GM Ilya Nyzhnyk from Ukraine.
Next time you're dining in Gibraltar, think twice before ordering the pawns. Two sharp games showcasing the notorious Sicilian Poisoned Pawn Variation top the menu today, served up at the just-concluded Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, held on the British island at the entrance to the Mediterranean.
Black leaders in Maryland are worried that a recommended congressional map expected to increase Democratic dominance of state politics could also reduce the influence held by black voters.
Unlikely viral video star Rebecca Black has released a follow-up to her first hit, "Friday."
Rebecca Black's official "Friday" music video has been taken off YouTube.
He's is generally considered to be just outside the circle of the game's very elite, but Israeli GM Boris Gelfand has always been what they call in baseball a "tough out."
There were some upstart contenders banging on the door, but in the end, it was a pair of familiar names at the top of the wall chart at the U.S. national and women's championships, which finished up last week at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis.
Another year, another batch of 100-year anniversaries to celebrate. The year 1911 featured two of the most storied international tournaments in the game's history. In the Spanish resort town of San Sebastian, 22-year-old Cuban Jose Raoul Capablanca made a spectacular debut on the international scene, with a first-place result that set him on the road to the world championship 10 years later. The tournament, which featured virtually all the game's best players, save for reigning German world champ Emanuel Lasker, kicked off exactly 100 years ago Sunday.
The powerhouse University of Maryland-Baltimore County squad did not capture the recent collegiate team chess championship, but GM Sergey Erenburg, UMBC's second board, bounced back with a fine second-place result in the strong Berkeley International, which concluded Jan. 8.
