Breyer Variation News Today

Around the turn of the century, there was worldwide interest regarding chess confrontations between humans and computers. One of the last top-notch events featuring such a battle was seen in 2005, when three strong grandmasters played a match against three of the best engines in the world. In the end, Hydra, Junior and Fritz defeated Alexander Khalifman, Ruslan Ponomariov and Rustam Kasimdzhanov by an 8-4 score. The match took place in Bilbao, and saw Ponomariov beating Fritz in a memorable enco...

The Chennai Grand Masters 2023 got off to a splendid start. Just when it seemed like the first round would end up being victorless, Pentala Harikrishna and Pavel Eljanov proved those predictions wrong. Arjun Erigaisi (Harikrishna’s opponent) made a significant mistake early in the game. It made him defend the better part of the battle. Eventually he missed his final opportunity to salvage a half point, which cost him the game. Parham Maghsoodloo (Eljanov’s opponent) made a huge blunder in a ...

Michael Adams still has a half-point lead at the London Chess Classic after his round-6 opponent, Jules Moussard, blundered the game away from a winning position. Gukesh, Amin Tabatabaei and Andrei Volokitin also scored full points. In the longest game of the day, Nikita Vitiugov failed to make the most of a big advantage against underdog Shreyas Royal. With three rounds to go, Gukesh stands in sole second place. | Photo: John Upham

FIDE and the Georgian Chess Federation are organizing a match between top Ukrainian players Mariya and Anna Muzychuk and local stars Nino Batsiashvili and Meri Arabidze. The games will take place at the Hotel Legend in Batumi, Georgia, on June 5-11. Each of the matches will consist of six classical games. | Photos: International Chess Federation

The 2015 World Team Championship saw China winning its first gold medal (out of three) in the tournament. The team was led by Ding Liren on top board, and had its top scorer in 15-year-old Wei Yi, who collected scoring 7/9 points on board 4. Ukraine and Armenia finished second and third, while the clear rating favourites from Russia only managed fourth place. The tournament took place in Tsaghkadzor, a small touristy town in Armenia also known as the ‘valley of flowers’. | Photos: Arman Kara...

Anton Korobov won the all-Ukrainian matchup against Ruslan Ponomariov to take the lead at the European Championship in Serbia. Korobov is the only player to have won his five first games at the extremely competitive event. Four players, including two underdogs, stand a half point behind. | Photos: European Chess Union

Three players are sharing the lead at the European Championship in Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia. Eltaj Safarli from Azerbaijan is joined by the Ukrainian duo of Anton Korobov and Ruslan Ponomariov (pictured) as the three participants who have scored four victories in as many games. A total of 23 players stand a half point back — Gabriel Sargissian, Boris Gelfand and Alexey Sarana are the highest-rated players in the chasing pack. | Photos: European Chess Union

By beating former co-leader Karthikeyan Murali, Kirill Alekseenko became the first sole leader at the main event of the Sunway Chess Festival in Sitges. After six rounds, the Russian grandmaster still has a perfect score. Standing in sole second place is Karen Grigoryan, who defeated Anton Demchenko on Saturday. Nine players stand a half point further back, including top seeds Yu Yangyi and Hans Niemann. | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

Halfway through the 10-round main tournament in Sitges, Kirill Alekseenko and Karthikeyan Murali still have a perfect score, after beating Abhimanyu Puranik and Aditya Samant respectively. Five players stand a half point back, including second seed Hans Niemann, who on Friday drew Karen Grigoryan with the black pieces. | Pictured: The great-looking analysis room in Sitges

No fewer than 54 players have won both their first encounters at the main event of the Sunway Festival in Sitges. However, round 2 saw five 2600+ rated players draw against much lower-rated opponents. Russian rising star Andrey Esipenko was held to a draw by French FM Mathieu Phileas, who in fact could have won the game had he made the most of his chances in a queen and rook endgame. | Pictured: The first blitz tournament of the festival took place on Tuesday night