Black played the Neo-Arkhangelsk variation of the Ruy Lopez, which was broadly analysed after the inspiring games of Shirov and Ivanchuk. Nakamura repeated 15…Re8, the move that he introduced in the game with Leko in Wijk an Zee. Grischuk deviated from that game with the direct 18.Ba4 and 19.Bc6, which is exactly the place where the Bishop wants to land. White gained some tempi in the process as black Rook retreated to f8 (18…Re6!? was interesting).
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Ivanchuk decided to defend with the deferred Ruy Lopez Steinitz to which Caruana responded by trading the pawns on e5 to clarify the structure in the center. 8.d5 instead of 8.h3 would lead to a totally different setup, reminiscent of the King’s Indian defence. Caruana exchanged the dark-squared Bishop for opponent’s Knight and after 19.Qa4 obtained a slight advantage.
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The match started as a Four Knights Game and Svidler opted for the active Rubinstein variation. Black sacrifices a pawn but gets good compensation as white pieces are a little bit clumsy. Black challenged white’s foremost pawn on e5, but Morozevich didn’t want to dig in with 13.Bc2 and 14.f4, but instead went for the inspiring b4-b5 advance. Later, we learned from Morozevich that this was his attempt to activate the pieces on the Queenside.
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A game full of fireworks even though the Benoni flowed into several odd moves by black allowing White to obtain a small but lasting advantage. White passed d-pawn was a strong trump for the endgame, while its counterpart on f4 was a constant source of worry. Rustam Kasimdzhanov exchanged the pieces down to B+N endgame and finally picked up the f4-pawn. He proceeded to convert the material advantage into full point.
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Gata Kamsky and Leinier Dominguez engaged in the Sicilian Naidorf defence. As usual, Kamsky went for the positional line and included his favourite a2-a4. He said that 15…Kh8 was interesting and that he got nothing out of the opening. That is why he decided to exchange the Queens and regroup the pieces. In the ensuing middlegame white retained some pressure after 31. e5. Dominguez criticized 32…f5 and felt that he should have played something else.
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Peter Svidler was the first to score a victory in Thessaloniki. His game with Etienne Bacrot started as Semi-Tarrasch and for awhile it looked like black is doing fine. But later he started to err and Svidler used the opportunity to invade the seventh rank with the rooks. Bacrot admitted that he “lost control some time around 19…h6.”. Svidler pointed that 21…Ba3 was unnecessary and that 21…Rc8 was to be preferred. He also criticized the retreat on 22nd move and suggested 22…Qa5 as possible improvement.
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Your mid-week puzzle is a neat position from the game Aisenstadt – Margolis, Leningrad, 1957. White has a nice tactic to get a winning position. Can you see how?
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Here is a two-move checkmate sent to us by Chess King reader @swakilki via twitter. Are you following @chessking? Send us your puzzles as well. In this position, can White checkmate in two? It’s not as difficult as it looks. Think awhile with a clear mind.
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Here is a cool chess position from the game Oleksienko – Gupta, New Delhi, 2011. White’s attack seems to have failed, but that’s not true. A magic move helps White win. Can you figure it out? The lines might appear to be long, but they are not difficult at all.
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A very simple position for this Sunday. What is White’s forced winning idea. Improve your chess with a daily dose of Chess King, so bookmark this site and check back daily.
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Here is a nice chess position from the game Vaeaetaeinen – Paasikan, Helsinki, 1991. White has taken their forces down to the seventh rank, but where is the win? White’s Queen seems to be trapped. How should White play?
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A mate in 6 chess problem delightful in its purity. White to play. Composed by Thomas Davidson (horizontal mirror) in Montreal Daily Witness, 1899. (P.S. Chess study attribution incorrect in podcast.)

LEVEL: Difficult
CATEGORY: Problem

Sit back and enjoy this video chess podcast by #1 www.chesskillertips.com. It is hosted by Chess Queen™ 12th Women’s Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk.
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Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013 Round 3: The Viswanathan Anand – Veselin Topalov game was a dynamic clash where the World Chess Champion played an inspired game. The game brought back memories of when Anand had beaten Topalov in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2010 to take the world title. Anand’s cool 32.Qh1! helped set up a great White win. You can read a report on the round at Chess Blog.
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Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013 Round 3: The Peter Svidler – Levon Aronian draw was an interesting battle. At move 17, Aronian declined a pawn sac that actually gave White a Queenside majority plus an isolated pawn. White controlling the b-file still looked slightly better when playing a5 and offering a draw on his first legal occasion at move 31. Nothing much could be done by either side and the game ended peacefully. Read a report on the round at Chess Blog.
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Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013 Round 3: Sergey Karjakin has been in great form at the tournament. The sharp Sicilian Rauzer with White’s slightly better position and a host of tactics helped the Russian Grandmaster win another full point to keep a perfect score. Read a report on the round at Chess Blog.
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Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013 Round 3: Magnus Carlsen and Hiraku Nakamura are never scared of stepping out of opening theory books. There game had an an unexpected start with 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Na5 5.Nge2, and within very few moves more left the theory books completely. As Carlsen later took on c4, Nakamura true to his principles about ignoring his pawn structures took back with the d-pawn and went for a Kingside attack with f4-f5. An exciting game followed, but it ended in a draw. Read a report on the round at Chess Blog.
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Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013 Round 3: It was an exciting game even though Norway’s second second highest rated player lost. There was some time trouble as well for White, but the Azerbaijan Grandmaster held on to his space advantage even has Hammer went a pawn down. White returned the pawn and slowly squeezed out the win. Read a report on the round at Chess Blog.
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Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013 Round 2: Wang Hao used his space advantage and home preparation well to cash in on Black’s plans. The endgame with Rook, Knight and four pawns versus Rook, Bishop and three pawns was too tough for Svidler to defend. Eventually, the Chinese Grandmaster took home the point. Read a report on the Round at Chess Blog.
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This is the first game Alexandra Kosteniuk won against a male Grandmaster, at the age of 15.

Kosteniuk Alexandra (RUS) (2324) – Kudrin Sergey (USA) (2525)

Result: 1-0

Site: Port Erin (England)

Date: 1999

[...] 1.e4 c5 2.♘f3 d6 3.♗b5+ ♘c6 4.d4 cxd4 5.♕xd4 ♗d7 6.♗xc6 ♗xc6 7.c4 ♘f6 8.♘c3 g6 9.O-O ♗g7 10.♕d3 ♘d7 11.♗e3 ♘c5 12.♕c2 O-O 13.♗d4 ♗h6 14.♖fd1 b6 15.♘d5 ♖c8 16.a4 ♘d7 17.b3 e6 18.♗e3 ♗g7 19.♘c3 d5 20.cxd5 exd5 21.♗d4 dxe4 22.♗xg7 exf3 23.♗xf8 ♕xf8 24.♘e4 ♕e7 25.♘d6 ♕g5 26.g3 ♕g4 27.♕c4 ♕xc4 28.♘xc4 ♘c5 29.b4 ♘xa4 30.♘d6 ♖c7 31.♖dc1 b5 32.♘xb5 ♗xb5 33.♖xc7 a6 34.♖a3 ♘b6 35.♖xf3 ♘d5 36.♖cxf7 ♘xb4 37.♖f8+ ♔g7 38.♖3f7+ ♔h6 39.♖h8

Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013 Round 2: Sergey Karjakin stayed not only ahead on the clock, but also won the game to keep a perfect score after two round. Black’s position looked very promising after 25.— Nce5!?, creatively pseudo-sacrificing a knight to open up the position for the black Bishops. Karjakin consequently continued by sacrificing his d5-pawn to open diagonals towards the White King. Making his move 40 with six seconds left on the clock, the Norwegian appeared to have some chances with Queen, Rook, Knight and four pawns versus Queen, Rook, Bishop and four pawns. Black had the better rook and the better minor piece in the resulting endgame, and reached a clear advantage when he got the necessary help to activate his king and roll the a-pawn. You can read a report on the round at Chess Blog.
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