Continue reading »]]> The World Chess Championship is currently taking place in the Engineering Building of the State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow, Russia) with a prize fund of 2.55 million US Dollars. The format of this World Chess Championship is a two-player match with the defending champion being Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand (FIDE: 2791) and the challenger being Israeli Grandmaster Boris Gelfand (FIDE: 2727).

The score is currently equal after 3 rounds with both players having 1.5 points each. There are scheduled to be 12 rounds, with tiebreak if necessary.

Both players are over 40 years old which is actually unusual. Recall that Garry Kasparov won a World Championship match at the age of 22.

See the official website for the World Chess Championship 2012. The website includes video broadcasts!

Continue reading »]]> I have written a new article discussing the merits of blindfold chess, both as a form of entertainment to non chess players and as an instructive training tool.

Additionally, the article for Free Chess Programs has been updated in its sections regarding free chess engines. The extremely strong free versions Rybka 2.3.2a and Houdini 1.5a are given mentions.

I would like to briefly revisit my new chess website, Chess Game Improvement. There have been recently-added articles on learning chess (via books, DVDs and software), the three different phases of chess (opening, middlegame and endgame), and places to play online, whether you’re looking to face human or computer opposition. I intend to expand Chess Game Improvement a lot more in the near future.

Continue reading »]]> Happy New Year to my readers!!! (Sorry for being a month late, I have been occupied by other issues lately.)

I have written a review on Chess Openings Wizard, an advanced piece of software predominantly used for learning openings and managing repertoires.

Here’s a response to a visitor’s question:

Hi GP: I learned to play chess many years ago. I want to improve my game. What do you recommend as the best method to study, board and pieces with books or use a computer. I ask because I see a lot of strong players online, but OTB play is where the proficiency level is determined. When I use a physical board and pieces it becomes a drag to constantly change to the many variations explained from the books and computer monitors. Your input will be greatly appreciated. Tevans2737.

Hi Tevans2737,

I was never a fan of using OTB pieces to study books. I preferred watching video lectures such as those on the software Chessmaster (latest edition is known as Grandmaster Edition). Nowadays, you will find a lot of younger players watching DVDs (such as those from ChessBase) rather than reading books. When I did read books, I liked to play over the variations on the computer (using software such as Fritz) rather than using a physical board. This way, you can check the annotator’s tactical accuracy against a chess engine.

That being said, I am sure some of my very highly-rated chess friends from the same era love to read books and would use a physical board to do so. I am just meticulous about this kind of thing because I really despise tactical errors (you will find quite a few in older books), so I much prefer to ‘read’ a book by entering it into Fritz. However, the way you study really depends on the amount of time you can devote to chess. Chess DVDs are relatively efficient if you do not have too much time to commit. If you do decide to watch some DVDs, be sure to take a look at some endgame and middlegame ones and not just opening DVDs (a common trap for improving players)!

Kind regards,
GP.

Continue reading »]]> Grandmaster Jan Markos’ first simultaneous display on Chess Friends finished with a 4.5-1.5 win for the grandmaster. Markos is the number one ranked player in Slovakia and has a FIDE Elo rating of 2596. Click here for the official ChessFriends.com simul report.

The next simul takes place on Wednesday,  21/9/2011 at 17:00 GMT. The qualification will held on Tuesday and is open to everybody registered on ChessFriends.com (registration is free). More information can be found in the site’s tournament section.

Continue reading »]]> I have published a new chess website called Chess Game Improvement. The site is mainly geared towards beginners. I find teaching this ‘simple material’ quite rewarding, especially given how far a player can go if he starts off with a strong foundation. The main GeniusProphecy Chess website will still be continually updated, although often with more advanced material or reviews.

Continue reading »]]> I have written two new related articles. A review of the excellent book The Art of Learning, by American International Master Joshua Waitzkin. Waitzkin is also the main spokesperson for Chessmaster, one of my all-time favourite chess programs. I have reviewed the Grandmaster Edition of Chessmaster.

I have added acknowledgements to my past coaches on my ‘about’ page. Many great coaches have worked with me over the years, but particularly want to acknowledge my long-time coach FIDE Master Geoffrey Saw.

Continue reading »]]> ChessBase is an extraordinary piece of database software that is sold on a website of the same name. The software dominates the chess market, particularly at the stronger end. ChessBase recently celebrated its 25th birthday and published a story regarding its origins, which involves a science journalist, an exceptional programmer and a world champion.

The world champion himself writes several paragraphs about how he came to be involved in the ChessBase project. The article also includes images of some vintage machines such as a BBC Acorn home computer, an Epson Z80 system with modem and dot matrix printer, and an Atari ST (based on Motorola’s 68000 processor) available back in 1987.

See the full article “ChessBase is 25“.

Continue reading »]]> Apologies, I haven’t published articles in a while. I have been busy with some other projects.

Efstratios Grivas is an author, highly experienced trainer and a chess grandmaster. He recently presented a highly informative series of articles on the world’s most popular chess website, ChessBase. I am going to summarise his tips as well as give my own take on the issues he discusses…

See the rest of the article “Chess Lessons with Grandmaster Efstratios Grivas“.

Continue reading »]]> Viktor Korchnoi is a marvel of human ingenuity. He is one of those exception-to-the-rule people who is able to maintain an extraordinary level of chess ability despite the apparent limitations of old age. Korchnoi has just turned 80 years old and has a FIDE rating of 2557. Click here to see ChessBase’s tribute article for Korchnoi’s 80th.

One of my favourite tournaments of the year to watch is the Amber tournament, which is currently taking place. The blindfold section of the tournament is particularly interesting and while many of the games are ‘spotless’, a handful show that even the world’s greatest players have occasional blind spots! (Note: blindfold play is where players are given an empty chessboard and must communicate their moves via coordinates while visualising where the pieces are.) There is a star field in this year’s Amber with names like Anand, Carlsen, Aronian and Topalov. Aronian is currently going into the final round with a full point lead. See this ChessBase report on the Amber as well as a link down the bottom to download all the games played so far.