IM Malcolm Pein September 26, 2023   CHESS.COM’S Speed Chess Championship presented by Coinbase was conveniently scheduled to fill in gaps in the chess calendar. Last week, Magnus Carlsen advanced to the semifinals after crushing his last world title challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi 20.5-9.5. The faster the games were played, the greater the disparity in strength it would appear. Carlsen’s Blitz and Bullet ratings are both more than 200 points higher than Nepo’s. Speed Chess...Full Story

TWO WINS THAT SAVED A LIFE Match Dinamo-Lokomotiv, Moscow 1954: Fëdor Duz-Khotimirsky plays the King's Gambit vs. David Bronstein. Source: unoscacchista.com Today, we remember International Master Fëdor Duz-Khotimirsky, born in Chernihiv, Ukraine, on September 26, 1879. He was three times Kyiv Champion, one time Uzbekistan Champion, obtained two important third places in the Soviet Championship, and a fifth place in the 1925 Moscow super-tournament, which Bogoljubow won. In his long...Full Story