Here is a selection of games featuring those players who have been successful in the last month. Note the selection of styles from the outright attacking (Korobov) to the prudent technical (Adams). There is more than one way to become a winner!
I have taken a closer look at the recent Dortmund mega-GM tournament and picked out four games that I found particularly interesting.
Ponomariov was first and Le Quang Liem second, whereas Mamedyarov had a very mixed event with some nice wins but some poor losses.
Ian Nepomniachtchi continues his rapid progress towards joining the world's elite. Here he is in fine form as he storms his opponent's defences in flamboyant style. How good can he get?
The following game is just remarkable. Both of Riazantsev and Naiditsch play some amazing moves and the resulting positions are just so difficult to judge.
I've had a look at some of the decisive moments and interesting games that have shaped the Grand Prix event in Astrakhan. I hope that you enjoy all these high-level thrills and spills!
Their theoretical discussion continues in a sharp line of the Sicilian Najdorf where Black grabs a pawn. Ivanchuk plays a new move and goes on to win a convincing game and helps his team gain a key 3.5-2.5 victory.
I've picked out a few games that demonstrate the different styles of the players who were vying for the title. As many of the leading players in this event are quite young their names will no doubt be in the headlines again soon.
Despite so much being at stake, Artyom Timofeev certainly held his act together as he played an impressive game to overcome Rauf Mamedov in the last round of the European Championship.
In the final round, Topalov beat Gelfand from a drawish rook ending and thus won the Linares tournament. I believe that Gelfand's 48th move was to blame for his loss, and Topalov's joy!
In the race for the title in Linares 2010 only two players were in the hunt. Grischuk won some convincing games whereas Topalov's success was due to resourceful play in some dubious positions and he was even turn the tables dramatically on a couple of occasions.
Only half-a-point separated Magnus Carlsen from his closest rivals. World Champion Vishy Anand only won two games, but these were against high-fliers Kramnik and Shirov, whose chances were seriously dented by these set-backs.
Magnus Carlsen had beaten Vladimir Kramnik in London a month earlier but this time his experienced opponent was in great form and managed to win with Black. Despite this loss, Carlsen still won the tournament and retains the World number one spot.
I was examining an ending from more than a century ago (as one does!) and apart from learning a great deal about rook endings I may have found a solution to a controversial position.
Vladimir Kramnik has been moving up the leader board in the Corus tournament, but Nigel Short could have done the former World Champion's rivals a favour by converting his advantage in round seven.
Nakamura does it again! He beat World Blitz Champion Magnus Carlsen in a Blitz match and now he downs World Cup champion Boris Gelfand with the Black pieces in swashbuckling fashion.
Here are some games from the annual Reggio Emilia round robin which is the strongest event of its type over New Year. Kamsky and Almasi were the winners in this year's event.
A couple of games caught my eye in the last round of the Russian Championships. In one the combination was sound, but wasn't altogether necessary, and in the other encounter the attack was successful but turns out to be incorrect! Read on to see if you agree.
Don't always expect my choice of Game of the Week to be spectacular! Here the way Vitiugov manages to eke out a win in a technical endgame is quite impressive. I hope you agree!
Magnus Carlsen won the first London Chess Classic and by avoiding defeat in the last round will be the world's number one in the New Year. However the final game was memorable: he was pressing to win, before going astray and then having to find some good moves to draw. A natural candidate for Game of the Week!
A couple of games and a curious position from the fifth round. The young English players were in form: Luke McShane won the best game prize while David Howell gave Kramnik some difficulties on the way to a draw.
The American's first game of the London Chess Classic was an example of a player getting almost everything right and still missing the win. See if you agree with my analysis where I point out where he could have done better!
The most interesting games in the quarter finals came on the first day. Here are three of the games, including the decisive wins by
Malakhov and Karjakin. Gashimov can be happy to have yet again survived some difficult moments with Black.
I was interested in the final position of the following game. At first sight 'unclear' looks like a typical label, but a closer look reveals that Black's position is not only superior but maybe even winning!
In the Berlin Defence of the Spanish, Black aims to construct an impenetrable barrier which is often known as the wall. However twenty years after the more famous Berlin Wall fell, the chess version is known to wobble at times as this game demonstrates!
It will be interesting to compare my conclusions with that of other analysts, but it seems to me that Ponomariov could have been the one with winning chances.
A few games from the recent Tal memorial. Kramnik's win against Ponomariov in round 6 took him to a comfortable lead, but Ivanchuk was close to upsetting the apple-cart in the final round.
Azerbaijan sneaked ahead of the Russians on tie-break. Here are a small sample of games including a couple of black wins by members of the Azerbaijani team, which reflects their fighting spirit.
The two players who dominated the event were Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from France and Sergei Zhigalko from Belarus. Their games were definitely worth looking at in some detail. Read on and see what you think!
Carlsen's six wins from Nanjing in a variety of styles show that he is already an all-round player. A fighter who is going from strength to strength and well on his way to the top spot in the rating list.
I have selected a few games that caught my eye, including one by Peter Svidler who badly outplayed Mamedyarov on his way to the top performance of the whole event.
