Σκακιστικά νέα

World Champion Magnus Carlsen experienced a setback already in the first round of the 2015 Qatar Masters Open as he was held to a draw by the Georgian women’s champion IM Nino Batsiashvili.

Russian Grandmaster Ivan Popov became the winner of the European Rapid Chess Championship 2015, which was held on 19-20th December in Minsk, Belarus.

Popov defeated Ilia Smirin from Israel in the direct encounter of the last round and triumphed with 10 points out of 11 games.

The 2015 Qatar Masters Open is organized by Qatar Chess Federation from December 19-30.

The event is a 9-round Swiss open tournament for players rated over 2300. The hefty prize fund is in the amount of $130.000 including $27.000 top prize and $8.000 first women prize.

The 2015 Match Tournament Nutcracker is taking place from December 19-26, in Moscow, Russia.

The 7th FIDE Open Corbas is scheduled to take place from December 20-23, 2015, at Gymnasuim Jean Jaurès, in Corbas, eastern France.

The event is a 7-round Swiss FIDE Open tournament for women with 28 registered players.

Former European champion Grandmaster Zdenko Kožul is declared winner of the 2015 Zadar Open after edging his compatriot GM Saša Martinović on tie-break. The two players finished on 6,5/9 points each. Kožul also qualified for the next championship of Croatia.

The 2015 Zadar Open was held from 13-19th December at the Falkensteiner Hotels & Resorts Borik in Zadar, Croatia.

The cast and crew discuss which Sherlock character would win at Cluedo or chess, and why…

Programme website: http://bbc.in/1IJbTBZ

The National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Belarus has promised to support the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in its campaign to include chess in the program of Winter Olympic Games.

The matter was discussed during the meeting between Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in Minsk on 18 December, BelTA informs.

Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan goes way back to the end of the longest reign in world championship history: Emanuel Lasker vs. José Raul Capablanca.

The match was delayed for years due to The Great War and failed negotiations. Seirawan covers the pivotal Game 5.

The reigning champion of Azerbaijan Grandmaster Rauf Mamedov became the new European Blitz Champion by defeating Vladimir Belous from Russia with 2-0 in the final round.