Benko Gambit News Today

The 2023 FIDE World Youth Championships are underway in Montesilvano, Italy. The tournament features sections for under-18, under-16, and under-14 age groups in both Open and Girls divisions. Overall, 766 players are competing, including 27 Americans.  

At the end of a period in most sports, athletes are eager to score going into the intermission: maybe even a buzzer-beater. The 2023 U.S. and U.S. Women’s Championships were no different, as the last round before the first rest day showcased immense energy on almost every board. Players were going all-in in their opposite-side-castling pawn races, patiently squeezing in objectively drawn endgames, and even king-walking to the center of the board with queens present!

38 years ago in 1985, the first Denker Tournament of High School State Champions was held: a melting pot for strong chess players all over the nation. Since then, multiple other tournaments emerged like flowers in a blossoming garden, including the Barber Tournament for Middle School Champions, the Haring Tournament for Girls Champions, the Irwin Tournament for Senior Champions, the Rockefeller Tournament for Elementary Champions, and the Weeramantry tournament for Blitz Champions.

Castling is a privilege which both sides have in each game. Despite the choices being two, a player can castle only once in the entire game. The choice often determines the fate of the game. It might seem easy, yet the underlying consequences of a correct or a misjudgement can be long term. GM Sundararajan Kidambi shows two examples of former world champions’ games where one of the contenders made an incorrect call. Check out the grandmaster’s detailed analysis and enrich your knowledge.

Pushing the g-pawn early in the game has become so common that when GM Jon Speelman watches Shakhriyar Mamedyarov play, he feels tempted to bet with himself when ‘the bayonet’ will be deployed. This week’s thematic column features a couple of classics (by Paul Keres and Alexei Shirov), an example from Mamedyarov’s practice and a remarkable win by Richard Pert from the British Championship. | Photo: Niki Riga

India 2, Israel, England, Spain, and Armenia lead with eight match points at the end of the fourth round of the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad. The U.S. and India, the top two seeds, were held to 2-2 draws by Uzbekistan and France respectively. Norway suffered another setback when they were held by Mongolia.

17-year-old Nodirbek Abdusattorov outplayed Fabiano Caruana as Uzbekistan came within a whisker of beating the top seeds. In the end the USA escape...

Favourites fumbled in the second round of the women section at the 44th Chess Olympiad as former world champion Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine suffered defeat aga

R Vaishali, Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkarni’s victories helped the India A team score a win against Argentina.

As in the ongoing 44th Chess Olympiad, the Indian team in several categories are holding strong positions against many tournament favourites, Swedish chess play