Judit Polgar signs up for the 4th London Chess Classic 2012

World No. 1 Judit Polgar

Judit Polgar celebrates her 36th birthday today with the news that she’s confirmed her participation for the 4th London Chess Classic, at Kensington Olympia, 1-10 December, 2012, according to the official press release. Polgar now joins World No 1 Magnus Carlsen, World Champion Vishy Anand, World No 2 Levon Aronian, the defending champion Vladimir Kramnik, and the UK No 1 Mickey Adams as those that have so far confirmed their invitations to play in the year-ending elite chess spectacular in the Capital City.

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Women's Chess Grand Prix Jermuk R6: Ju Wenjun in Sole Lead

Ju Wenjun in Lead

The Fide Women's Chess Grand Prix is currently on in Jermuk. After six rounds, China's Ju Wenjun continues to lead with a well-earned 4.5 points. In Round six, only two games were decisive. Koneru Humpy beat Ekaterina Kovalevskaya and Nino Khurtsidze lost to Ruan Lufei. The other games - Zhao Xue-Munguntuul Batkhuyag, Mkrtchian Lilit-Lahno Kateryna, Ju Wenjun-Kosintseva Nadezhda, Danielian Elina-Hou Yifan were draws.

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Surprise Chess Gift Goes Out to 86 City Mayors Worldwide from Moscow!

MOSCOW, July 22, 2012: Mayors of 86 global and regional cities around the world got a surprise gift for the International Chess Day on Friday, July 20 – a competition chess set, with a note from Vladimir Palikhata, President of the Moscow Chess Federation (MCF), extolling the virtues and benefits of chess – "a wise and ancient game," which, according to the release, can "help reduce stress associated with managing a city" and "bring pleasure."

Vladimir Palikhata decided to use this opportunity to reach out to the chief administrators of sister cities of Moscow, including London, Chicago, Vienna, Tokyo, and Santiago, to establish and reinforce relations with the chess-playing community in these cities.

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Exhibition Chess Live from India Time 5.30 PM to Mark Biel Chess Fest 45th Anniversary

At the Opening Ceremony

The Grandmasters played a garden chess game against Hans Altherr (president of the council of states) and Erich Fehr (mayor of biel). The game ended in a draw.

In a few hours from now, the superstar-studded Biel Chess Festival is going to be open in Switzerland. First up is the Exhibition Blitz Tournament. You can watch it live at the official website from India time 5.30 pm. The festival includes a GM tournament, a masters tournament, several chess exhibitions, blitz, rapid, etc. in the coming days. Stay tuned at Chess Magazine Black & White blog site for regular updates. 

Invitation Blitz Tournament to celebrate the 45 years of the Biel Chess Festival
KO System, with 8 players
Magnus Carlsen NOR (Seeded Nr 1)
Hikaru Nakamaura USA (Seeded Nr 2)
Alexander Morozevich RUS (Seeded Nr 3)
Wang Hao CHN (Seeded Nr 4)
Etienne Bacrot FRA (Nr 5)
Pentala Harikrishna IND (Nr 6)
Yannick Pelletier SUI (Nr 7)
Alexandra Kosteniuk RUS (Nr 8)
System: Two games with 5‘+ 2‘‘/move. If 1-1, one Armageddon game with 5’ for white (has to win) and 4’ for black. The draw will made according the FIDE Elo rankings of 1st July 2012.

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Commonwealth Chess in Chennai from Nov 22

The Commonwealth Chess Championship is going to be held in Chennai, India from November 22-December 1, 2012. The tournament will be conducted as per FIDE Laws of Chess and FIDE Swiss System with 11 rounds. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded in Open, Women, Under-20 (Boys and Girls), Under-18 (Boys and Girls), Under-16 (Boys and Girls), Under-14 (Boys and Girls), Under-12 (Boys and Girls), Under-10 (Boys and Girls), Under-8 (Boys and Girls) categories. The medal winners will be referred to as Commonwealth Medalists. The defending champion is GM Gawain Jones of England.

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Jermuk Chess Grand Prix Round 2: Humpy, Wenjun in Joint Lead

Humpy

Women's chess is always quite exciting with the players not willing for draws easily. The Jermuk Women's Chess Grand Prix - fifth edition of the series 2011/12 - has begun. India's Koneru Humpy has won both the rounds to lead with China's Ju Wenjun. The latter has won both the rounds as well.

Watch live India time Round 3 today from 4.30 pm at the official website. Round 3 will see following pairings: Khurtsidze-Zhao, Danielian-Humpy, Yifan-Wenjun, Lufei-Mkrtchian, Kovalevskaya-Munguntuul and Kosintseva-Lahno. 

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