Referring to Boris Gelfand’s style, Vladimir Kramnik wrote: “What impresses me most is his ability to create games, where all the moves, from the first to the last, are as though links in a single logical chain”. GM Sundararajan Kidambi analyses Gelfand’s win over Vishy Anand at the 2012 World Championship match in Moscow, a perfect example of the Israeli’s brilliant strategic aptitude. | Photo: Rodrigo Fernandez
The recently concluded World Team Championship is in the history books already. China again demonstrated its enormous chess potential by winning the tournament, even without the presence of its top players. Uzbekistan was another hero of this event. With this success, the Olympic champions have cemented.
Few tournaments brought as much stake to its host nation as Moscow 1925 did to Russia. The event brought a Russian into world title contention, but, more importantly, it proved vital to Russia’s rise as dominant force in chess. Eugene Manlapao takes a look at the tournament and its history. | Photo: Tournament winner Efim Bogoljubov (left) and Akiba Rubinstein during their game | Photo: Wikipedia
Ossip Bernstein had a turbulent life: Born in 1882 in Czarist Russia he was a successful lawyer in Moscow until he had to flee from the Bolsheviks. He emigrated to Paris where he rebuilt his successful law firm but then had to flee again when the Nazis occupied France. After the war, Bernstein returned to Paris. Apart from his career as a lawyer and businessman he was also a successful chess player and at his peak he was one of the world's best players. Eugene Manlapao takes a look at the life and career of this brilliant amateur player.
In studying the classics, we get to know the elementary strategies and tactical motifs of the game, and thus we deepen our understanding of chess. At the same time, we gain an insight into chess history and chess culture. Dorian Rogozenco presents the most beautiful classics on his new FritzTrainer. Phillip Hillebrand has reviewed the training course.