Play Online Chess, Free Chess Online, austinfilmfestival.org

We are developing a brand new austinfilmfestival.org! In the meanwhile...

Chess news:

Chess Player Vaclav Havel — ... Havel became perhaps the only head of state who played - and won - an actual chess game during a ceremonial opening of a chess tournament. It happened in Prague in 1990 and here is the account I wrote around that time: I was trying to explain to the president and his advisor, Jiri Krizan (pictured in the middle), the protocol and how he would make a single move on a chess board. But Havel interrupted me. "Can we play a little more?" A meek entreaty, but since it was uttered in Czechoslovakia, by the president of Czechoslovakia, it amounted to a command. And so it was that on Aug. 26, 1990, the charismatic, enigmatic playwright-president Vaclav Havel and I played a game of chess. It wasn't supposed to ...

Gawain Jones and David Howell go extra Miles in search of success — England's first chess grandmaster, the late Tony Miles, liked to call himself a globetrotter. Miles often played in chess events in widely distant countries with scarcely a break between tournaments, and once he rang from Heathrow to tell me he had missed a prizegiving in Vienna to fly to a Teesside weekender which was part of the UK Grand Prix. Miles believed that his pragmatic approach helped him be resilient, in touch with tactical novelties, and eager for victory. It worked well at his peak in his mid-twenties, though fatigue later took its toll. Now England's youngest GMs Gawain Jones, 24, and David Howell, 20, have adopted a version of the Miles strategy as they seek to match the 2700-rated world chess elite. ...

On Chess: Old veteran Kramnikstill showing spunk — At 36, Vladimir Kramnik is at a turning point that is problematic for many chess grandmasters. Faced with an onslaught of energetic younger chess players, the veteran competitors’ results often decline. And so it has been for Kramnik. Dissatisfied with his uninspiring performances of late, however, the former world chess champion seems to have ramped up his aggressiveness. Most recently, he finished first — ahead of several of the best chess players — in the world’s jewel of annual tournaments: the London Chess Classic in Britain. He did it professionally but conservatively by drawing with each of the top chess players — Viswanathan Anand, Levon Aronian, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura — while piling up wins against ...

Chess: Tournament Life Isn’t Always Glamorous — Traveling is part of the life of a chess player. Sometimes the destination is glamorous — London or Gibraltar — but elite chess tournaments are often held in out-of-the-way places that do not top many tourist lists. The last four World Chess Cups have been held in the Siberian city of Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The Women’s World Chess Championship last month was in Tirana, Albania. And several top chess events have taken place in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia — a dusty Russian republic on the Caspian Sea. Sometimes the remoteness of the location is not the issue. In 2004, the World Chess Federation held its championship in Tripoli, Libya, and none of the Israeli qualifiers competed. The current ...

Chess: Working the variations — Is there any way through Black's solid defence? How can he increase the pressure on Black's position? RB: If only my rooks were doubled on the e-file maybe I could put pressure on the knight on e7, but in the time it would take to get my heavy pieces lined up, Black would be able to deal with any threat – 1 Re2 Ng6 2 Rae1 Rxe2 3 Qxe2. I'm left in control of the e-file but how does that look? Not too bad, I suppose, but also not very exciting. Is there something better? I can't see any tactics, so maybe the thing to do is to try to take advantage of the weak dark squares on Black's queenside. If I could put my knight on c5 and my queen on d4, I'd be a very happy bunny. Trouble is, I don't ...

Chess history, FIDE, USCF, Correspondence chess, Play computer chess, Chess computer, Chessbase

— 5/17 14:34