Lev Polugaevsky News Today

Today, legendary Grandmaster Vlastimil Hort celebrates his 80th birthday. A long stay of several weeks in the hospital when he was five years old and a caring doctor who played correspondence chess and explained the chess rules to him gave way to his great passion. Eduard Frey celebrates the legend’s anniversary!

Davorin Kuljasevic is an international grandmaster born in Croatia. A graduate of Texas Tech University, he is a highly experienced chess coach known for

Once upon a time we all looked quite different - even some famous chess players. Our author has selected some childhood and youth photographs of famous chess grandmasters and invites you to guess. For example, who are the two perky new wave girls? Background singers from A-ha?

Following the rest day, players returned well-prepared to the playing hall in Munich and drew all their games in round 6 of the Women’s Grand Prix. Alexandra Kosteniuk thus kept her 1½-point lead in the standings. Importantly, Kosteniuk’s closest chasers, Humpy Koneru and Nana Dzagnidze, have yet to face the former women’s world champion. | Photo: FIDE / Mark Livshitz

The 37th edition of the Reykjavik Open will be held from March 29th until April 4th, 2023 in Harpa, the 28.000 sq. m. concert and conference hall in downtown Reykjavik. The tournament has been the flagship of Icelandic chess for many years and one of the most prestigious and well-liked open tournaments on the calendar every year. | Press release, Icelandic Chess Federation.

Now that Argentina has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhEWqfP6V_w">won the FIFA World Cup</a> in memorable fashion, it is a great time to reminisce on the legacy of Miguel Najdorf. ‘Don Miguel’ was born in Warsaw, but was among the many European players who found themselves in Buenos Aires when the Second World War broke out in 1939. Najdorf stayed in Argentina and spent most of his life in the South American country. Najdorf was one of the fifteen players who...

I take a break from my usual historical articles to pay tribute to a countryman who has been recently honored with one of the highest distinctions in chess — his induction into the World Chess Hall of Fame. In a sense, this tribute is still partly historical, as his long career is now all part of chess lore. He is none other than Grandmaster Eugenio Torre of the Philippines, who turns 71 today. To Eugene, a joyous birthday, and our heartfelt congratulations!

ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess and it also provides arsenal for the tournament player. This issue offers games from two major events, FIDE Grand Prix and Ukraine Charity Cup. 353 games (37 annotated), 11 opening surveys, lectures and exercises for training. Annotators include Anish Giri, Wesley So, Andrey Esipenko, Grigoriy Oparin and Nikita Vitiugov among others. The icing on the cake is the Larsen Special, a tribute to the Great Dane. Our columnist Nagesh...

When White wants to tackle the Sicilian Najdorf Variation — 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 — very directly, 6.Bg5 is a popular choice. After 6...e6 7.f4 the rare 7...b5, the Polugaevsky Variation, leads to sharp and difficult positions. Petra Papp brings the theory of this variation up to date in her article for ChessBase Magazine #207, explaining typical strategies and motifs for both sides.

With the start of the 2022 Reykjavik Open just over a month away, it’s time to take a little stock and remind chess players about the upcoming event. Perhaps some people are hesitant to make a decision on participating in a chess tournament due to the current Covid situation. We can however give you some fantastic news. Since last Friday, there are no, i.e. ZERO, Covid restrictions in Iceland. Everything is open “as normal” and there are no longer any restrictions on the border. Press rele...