Quality Chess Blog

We are delighted to announce that Artur Yusupov has won the prestigious Boleslavsky Medal for his series Build up your Chess. This prize is awarded by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, to the best instructional book (it is also open to computer software or articles).

Winning a worldwide prize is remarkable, but the standard of the competition makes it even better: 2nd place was awarded to Garry Kasparov and 3rd was Mark Dvoretsky.

The full announcement can be seen at the FIDE website

We have made some slight changes to the publishing schedule. Latest version looks like this:

There has been some recent chat about Avrukh’s line against the Slav (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3) and whether 4…Bg4 is a complete solution.

Avrukh’s line continues 5.Qb3 Qb6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Nh4!? when some have echoed Boris’s observation that this is tempo down on another Slav line (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg4 7.Qb3 Qb6). This is not so significant for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the other line is now not highly regarded for Black, so White being a tempo down on it still leaves plenty of scope for an edge. Secondly, and more importantly Read more…

New reviews are always interesting, but especially so when the reviewer is a major expert on the subject. So I am particularly happy that GM Tony Kosten, author of The Dynamic English, is a fan of Marin’s GM Repertoire 3: The English Opening Vol.1.

A few highlights:

“It is immediately evident that this book is written by a strong Grandmaster who plays the opening himself and who thoroughly understands all the strategic and tactical nuances.

For most of the last ten years people have been asking me when I was going to write The Dynamic English 2nd Edition, and finally I can say there is no need, I think that had I decided to write an updated version this is the book I would have liked to have produced!

Perhaps the biggest compliment I can offer is that this is the only book that I will now be taking with me to my tournaments and team matches!”

Read the full review at chesspublishing.com

Final Scores:

GM C. McNab 8
IM N. Mikkelsen 7
FM N. Berry 5½
FM D. Eggleston 5
IM A. Greet 5
M. Mitchell 4
A. Tate 4
FM M. Andersen 2½
FM C. Thomson 2½
J. Grant 1½

A brilliant 2650 performance by GM Colin McNab, who is the main proof-reader of Quality Chess. Our books have benefited greatly from Colin’s sharpness. He is the ideal man for the job – a strong player, published author, and, as a bonus, a world class chess puzzle solver. Next month Colin will be part of the British team in the World Solving Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

No IM norms were made, but FM Neil Berry was closest, in third place, nudging his rating closer to the 2400 level that is also a requirement for the IM title.

Games from the final two rounds are posted in the comments and all the Games are on-line.

The English Chess Federation recently announced their short list for their Book of the Year prize and we are delighted that John Cox’s The Berlin Wall is nominated. The short list is on the ECF site

Opening books rarely feature in Book of the Year prizes, so it is good to see The Berlin Wall receiving well deserved attention (in my biased opinion). As a book, it is much more than a list of variations – I would claim there is real chess understanding. Anyway, doing book reviews of our own books may be a new blog low, so I’ll stop here.

Quality Chess is sponsoring an international all-play-all tournament, which is underway now. The event is being hosted by Edinburgh Chess Club.

Update:
Scores after 8 Rounds

C.McNab 7½
N,Mikkelsen 6
A.Greet 5
N.Berry 5
M.Mitchell 4
D.Eggleston 4
A.Tate 3½
M.Andersen 2
C.Thomson 1½
J.Grant 1½

I will post some of the games as they become available. I will put up a link to the games and place them in the comments section. It is not a high-tech event, so no live internet coverage. Thanks to Geoff Chandler of Chandler Cornered for sending me some of the games from the first couple of rounds (posted below) with a few of his comments. Geoff’s site has stories and photos from the event.

Games

10 player all-play-all, 12-20 September 2009, play is from 1pm – 7pm each day.
Edinburgh Chess Club, 1 Alva Street, Edinburgh, Scotland.
http://www.edinburghchessclub.co.uk/
Prize money:

1st £500
2nd £300
3rd £150

Participants:

GM Colin McNab 2466 Scotland

IM Andrew Greet 2433 England

IM Nikolaj Mikkelsen 2361 Denmark

FM Mads Andersen 2338 Denmark

FM David Eggleston 2368 England

FM Craig Thomson 2324 Scotland

FM Neil Berry 2301 Scotland

Jonathan Grant 2249 Scotland

Alan Tate 2175 Scotland

Martin Mitchell 2175 Scotland

If you have always wanted to watch two International Masters playing chess 400 feet off the ground in a helium-filled balloon, then today is your lucky day.

During the recent British Championship IMs Andrew Greet and Jack Rudd (rivals from the neighbouring English counties of Cornwall and Devon) played just such a match. Andrew has been working at Quality Chess for a few months, so we pay particular attention to what he gets up to on his holidays.

YouTube has the story in two parts:
Part One Part Two