When they hear ‘Reykjavik Open’, many chess players spontaneously express the wish to be there. Our author Gerd Densing belongs to this group: he is currently in the Icelandic capital, playing in the tournament, writing and taking photographs. In the first three rounds, he has met not only the rating favourite, Vasyl Ivanchuk (photo), but also many other interesting personalities.
The series of open national competitions for the World Solving Cup 2022/23 continued this month, with events in Poland and the Netherlands. Kacper Piorun won the Polish competition, while Nikos Sidiropoulos (Greece) was the winner in the Dutch event. In Poland, eight minutes decided the winner; in the Netherlands, one subtle endgame study made the difference.
Rainer Knaak was born on 16 March 1953 in Pasewalk, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In 1974, at the age of 21, Knaak became the then youngest grandmaster in the world. The mathematician is a 5-time champion of the German Democratic Republic, and always caused a stir with his optimistic and elegant attacking style. Knaak was also successful as an author. He published numerous books and began working for ChessBase in 1994. He was editor-in-chief of ChessBase Magazine and published a number of popular ChessBase DVDs.
Chess will make its first appearance in the European Games as an accompanying event at the Kraków-Maloposka Games 2023. The European Chess Union regulated a new special competition, the European Pair Blitz Chess Championship 2023, which will take place on 19th of June 2023 in Kraków, Poland. Eight teams (ECU members) are invited according the best combined Pair FIDE Classical rating according to the March 2023 list: Ukraine, Azerbaijan, France, Poland, Romania, Germany, Armenia and the Netherlands.
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 9th edition of the London Chess Conference will take place on 17-19 March 2023. The theme of the 2023 London Chess Conference is Chess and STEM — exploring the ways in which chess relates to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The objective of the conference is to bring together all those involved in the use of chess for educational purposes, including representatives from the Education Commissions for FIDE and ECU in order to establish a co-operative working practice. | Photos: <a href="https://chessconference.org/">Official website</a>
Yochanan Afek (Hebrew: יוחנן אפק), born 1952 in Tel Aviv, is an Israeli chess player, composer, trainer and arbiter. He is the only person to possess international titles at five different facets of chess: International Master, International Grandmaster of chess composition, International Arbiter, FIDE master in problem solving, and International Judge for chess compositions. CHESS Magazine did a 60-second portrait of Afek. | Photo: Alina L'Ami
The fifth round of the Munich Grand Prix saw Alina Kashlinskaya scoring her first full point. The Polish IM was losing in the middlegame, but managed to hold on and turn the tables once Mariya Muzychuk erred in a double-edged position. Meanwhile, Alexandra Kosteniuk (pictured) kept her 1½-point lead by escaping with a draw from a clearly inferior position against Harika Dronavalli. | Photo: FIDE / David Llada
Yugoslavian/Serbian great Svetozar Gligoric, born 100 years ago on Feb. 2, is the greatest player his chess-mad country ever produced and one of the premier players of the postwar chess generation. But Gligoric had the misfortune to come of age when the Soviet chess juggernaut was at its most formidable.
The first-ever Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities represents a historic event for FIDE and the chess world. From the 29th of January to the 5th of February, the Serbian capital will host the event. Thirty-three countries and three international squads have registered to take part in this team competition. They are led by Poland, the winner of the 2020 Online Olympiad for people with disabilities, and Hungary, the two highest-rated teams.