Welcome to another chess review where we comment on last week’s news from our own club, county, country and the world. We will also take a look at what to expect next week.

In our own club, Anstey Chess club’s first team played against bottom Kirby Muxloe and added another W to their record with a crushing 4-1 result for our top players. Full report from the game can be found on this link. In addition, the “webmaster” (not really, more like website enthusiast) Boris decided to reshuffle the gallery which is now full of photos, grouped in slideshows corresponding to particular events and captioned with snappy comments. To check it for yourselves, click on the Gallery tab above or just follow this link.

For next week, the second team takes on a serious challenge as they are going to play Wigston 4 away. In the same manner as last week, for everyone who wants to attend club night, El Presidente will be in the Anstey Methodist church welcoming any chess enthusiast willing to have a go at the beautiful game.

In the county, a few games were played last week. In Division 1, Syston 1 continue their winning streak, this time beating Wigston 1, while Shepshed 1 defeated Market Harborough 1. In the second division no games took place, while in Division 3 Syston 2 achieved another important win, this time against Ashby 2, in an attempt to hold onto the first place, with our own Anstey 1 and Market Harborough 2 also in the race for first in the division. In the fourth division Braunstone 2 defeated Heathcote Arms 2.

In the country, the English Chess Federation has announced the English Championship 2022 which is to take place in Kenilworth from 19th to 22nd May 2022. For more information on the tournament, follow this link.

Worldwide, the Charity Cup 2022, another event from the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour has started and it will include plenty of big names competing for the prize. The event will be special, as the money raised from the event will be donated to UNICEF for support of families fleeing Ukraine. As of day 2, GM Liem Quang Le is leading the pack, with GM Magnus Carlsen and GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda close behind him. As customary, the event’s stream on Youtube will be available on our home page, you can access the action by clicking here.

Welcome to another chess review where we comment on last week’s news from our own club, county, country and the world. We will also take a look at what to expect next week.

In our own club, both teams fought bravely against the second and third teams of Market Harborough, bringing home 1.5/2 points. First, the first team managed to steal the win with crushing 3-1 defeat, the report for the match was written by ‘El Presidente’ himself and could be accessed by clicking here. On the very next evening the second team went on to hold on Market Harborough’s third team, with Leo achieving a big win against a very strong opponent. For more on the second team draw against the current division 4 leaders, follow this link.

For next week, the second team take on Loughborough in an attempt to bring home some more points and remain undefeated this calendar year, while on Thursday there will be the usual club night.

In the county, there were plenty of games played last week. In Division 1, Wigston 1 won against Thurnby, while Syston 1 defeated Shepshed 1. In the second division Wigston 3 leveled the leaders Melton Mowbray 1 on points by beating the second team from the town famous for great pork pies (in my humble foreigner’s opinion, the food the British Empire was built on). In Division 3 Latimer and Ashby 2 delivered crushing defeats to Heathcote Arms 1 and Kiry Muxloe 2, respectively. No games were played in the fourth division apart from our second team’s draw against Market Harborough 3.

In the country, the first five games of the England vs Sweden match between GM Nils Grandelius and GM David Howell have taken place, with the English Grandmaster having the edge 3 – 2 with one win and four draws. You can follow all of the action on chess24, following this link.

Worldwide, the FIDE Grand Prix 2022 leg 2 has started in Belgrade with one more round to take place until the playoffs. While GM Anish Giri and GM Richard Rapport only need a draw to qualify, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave will go for the win, while in Group A GM Sam Shackland and GM Dmitry Andreikin are fighting hard for the top spot with 3 points each. You can follow all of the action on our own website by clicking here.

Welcome to another chess review where we comment on last week’s news from our own club, county, country and the world. We will also take a look at what to expect next week.

In our own club, we celebrated another win for the second team along with the debut of our first female competitor Deepa. Although she had a tough game, we are wishing her many more games to come with many wins to be achieved! For more on the match, follow this link.

For next week, there will be plenty of action for all players with both teams hosted by Market Harborough’s second and third teams on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. On Thursday as usual there will be a club night in the Anstey Methodist Church from 7:30pm. All abilities welcome!

In the county, there were several games played last week. In Division 1, Syston 1 and Shepshed 2 secured wins against Thurnby and Market Harborough 1, respectively. In the second division Loughborough 1 defeated Wigston 2 away while Melton Mowbray’s first won against their own second team. In Division 3 all teams took a break while in the fourth division Braunstone 2 defeated Wigston 4.

In the country, the ECF has announced a new ECF Manager of Arbiters in the face of FA Ravi Sandhu who is replacing IA Alan Atkinson. We wish him long and successful career. More on the story on this link.

Worldwide, the Airthings Masters 2022 finished in a dramatic way after Magnus Carlsen managed to break again Ian Nepomniachtchi in their first meeting after the World Championship 2021. In addition to the Norwegian’s excellent performance, the tournament showcased some great young chess talents such as Andrey Esipenko, Vladislav Artemiev, Vincent Keymer, Eric Hansen and the teenager Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa who managed to defeat the world champion during the prelims. All action was streamed on our own website and a replay of the second day of the final is currently on our home page (to watch it follow this link).

Welcome to another chess review where we comment on last week’s news from our own, county, country and the world. We will also take a look at what to expect next week.

In our own club we had an amazing week for the first team which remains undefeated this calendar year with three wins out of three games. Our top-rated players defeated Heathcote Arms 1 with a crushing 4-0 with all players showcasing amazing resilience. For more information on the match, follow this link. Two of our most promissing players, Hal and Julian, took on another challeng today as they participated in the Nottingham Rapid tournament, with both having both good and bad games. Nevertheless, an amazing experience for both, from which they will only learn.

The upcoming week will feature another home league game for our club, with our second team facing Ashby 3 in an expected eight-board match. We wish our second team success in what is scheduled to be a true celebration of the game.

In the county, there were a few games played last week. In Division 1, Shepshed 1 defeated the next in the table Braunstone 1. In the second division Ashby 1 got back on the winning track after 3-1 against Wigston 3 who are surprisingly two places above Wigston 2. In Division 3 Syston 2 secured another important win, this time against Market Harborough 2 which puts pressure on our first team as our top players are eyeing the first two places in the table. In the fourth division Melton Mowbray 3 conceded another loss this year, this time against Loughborough 2.

In the country, the ECF has announced an England vs Sweden Challenge Match in which GM David Howell will take on GM Nils Grandelius in London this March. For more information on their website, follow this link.

Worldwide, the first leg of the FIDE Grand Prix 2022 finished with GM Hikaru Nakamura claiming the top spot after amazing final games against GM Levon Aronian. The victor did not spend much time in celebrations and went straight into the Rapid Chess Championship, currently taking place on chess.com. The American Grandmaster even made it to the final but was denied a second crown in a row by his countryman GM Fabiano Caruana. On the topic of online chess, the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, the competition with the richest prize pot in online chess, has started on Saturday, 19^th February and is currently taking place with the preliminaries ongoing. The current leader in the standings is the last World Championship challenger GM Ian Nepomniachtchi who decided that he is done with playing bad after losing the first game and won the following five games, finishing round 8 with 19 points, four points clear of the second GM Ding Liren and the third GM Eric Hansen who appears to be the pleasant surprise in the tournament so far. It is worth mentioning that the World Champion in classical chess GM Magnus Carlsen lost his game against the 16-year old GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. You can follow all of the action on our own website on this link.

Lastly, better late than never, we missed to mention in the last Sunday chess review that the oldest Grandmaster, GM Yuri Averbakh turned 100 years and is officially the only GM to reach a centenary. We wish him strong health and many years to come!

Welcome to another chess review where we comment on last week’s news from our own, county, country and the world. We will also take a look at what to expect next week.

In our own club we had a busy club night last Thursday with ten people turning up for some proper chess and fun. We were happy to welcome back John and Deepa who both become regular attendees of our club nights, as well as the OG ‘Squish’ who came, played and left with a mic dropping joke. For more on the club night, follow this link. Next week our first team hosts Heathcote Arms 1 in a match where our top players will look to get the W in a move to attack the second place in their division.

In the county, there were a few games played last week. In Division 1, Shepshed 2 got back on the winning path defeating Market Harborough 1. In the second division Melton Mowbray 1 won against Ashby 1. In Division 3 there Syston 2 secured an important for their team win against Latimer. In the fourth division Melton Mowbray 3 won against Ashby 3, while Wigston 4 drew with Heathcote Arms 2.

In the country, the ECF has announced the 21st IPCA World Individual Chess Championship for the Physically Disabled 2022 in Ashdod, Israel from 8th – 17th May 2022. More information on their website – IPCA World Individual Chess Championship.

Worldwide, the first leg of the FIDE Grand Prix 2022 is still taking place in Berlin. In the semifinals a brave Richard Rapport could not hold on Hikaru Nakamura who is having an amazing tournament. Another GM in great form is Levon Aronian who managed to capitalise on a mistake by his opponent in the semis, Leinier Dominguez. Aronian and Nakamura will face each other from 15^th to 17^th February, you can follow all of the action on our website.

Welcome to another chess review where we comment on last week’s news from our own, county, country and the world. We will also take a look at what to expect next week.

In our own club, COVID-19 hit the club with Boris and Ben catching it. However, nothing could stop Ben to stream twice on twitch.tv, including a 5-hour puzzle rush stream. For more content from Ben, follow his twitch account on twitch.tv/notquiteagm. On Wednesday, our first team participated in a six board league game against Latimer, securing their first back-to-back win for the season. For more on the brilliant performance of the first team, follow this link.

For next week, we are expecting another quiet week, with only club night in sight due to our second team’s game with Market Harborough 3 postponed for 2^nd March. Join us for another evening of chess, fun and entertainment in the Methodist Church in Anstey. All abilities welcome!

In the county, there were plenty of games played last week. In Division 1, Braunstone 1 won against Thurnby, while Wigston 1 drew home against Shepshed 1. In the second division Wigston 3 achieved difficult win against Loughborough 1 while Melton Mowbray’s second team drew with Kirby Muxloe 1. In Division 3 Syston 2 and Market Harborough 2 joined us by winning their games against Heathcote Arms 1 and Ashby 2, respectively. No games were played in the fourth division.

In the country, the ECF is running a second Endgame Challenge with IM Lorin D’Costa and GM Keith Arkell. The challenge will focus on rook and pawn endgames. More about the event on this link.

Worldwide, the FIDE Grand Prix 2022 has started with the first leg of the tournament already on round 3. Follow all of the action on our own website by going back to the home page and scrolling all the way down. After today’s action, please find the below the latest results as presented by FIDE:

Welcome to another Sunday chess review where we take a look at selected events to remember from the past week and to look forward in the next.

In our own Anstey Chess club we had another amazing club night, a report from the evening and a gallery of photos can be seen on Club Night – 20/01/22. This week we are looking forward to another club night for our first team and casual players, while the second team will have to face Heathcote Arms 2. We wish them good luck and two wins in a row.

In the area there were several competitive games in all divisions. In Division 1 Braunstone 1 won over Wigston 1, while Shepshed’s first two teams had to play each other, with the first team taking the honours. In the second division, Melton Mowbray 1 delivered a crushing 3 – 1 defeat to the unfortunate team of Loughborough 1. In Division 3 where our own Anstey 1 plays, Market Harborough 2 did not leave any chances to the team of Kirby Muxloe 2, the game finished 8.5 – 1.5 for the division leaders. In the fourth division, Wigston 4 an Loughborough 2 shared a point after a 2.5 – 2.5 draw. To follow all action in out own county, follow the LRCA website.

In the country, the Independent published a piece about “the real-life” Beth Harmon (fictional character from the Queen’s Gambit series on Netflix), the first World Women’s Championship winner Vera Menchik. More on Vera Menchik can be found on chess.com.

Worldwide the main topic in chess as usual is the world champion in classical chess Magnus Carlsen. The Norwegian is again aiming to write history by achieving 2900 ELO rating and his road starts at the TATA Steel Chess tournament held in Wijk in the Netherlands. Currently the world champion is in first place, followed by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov who is trailing by only half a point. Meanwhile, Vidit Gujrathi is hovering around the third place a full point behind Carlsen, while Anish Giri received a point by default after Daniil Dubov got himself in a “Covid-y” situation. Full coverage of the tournament, as presented by chess.com on YouTube can be found on our own website. Just head back to the home page and scroll down to the bottom or click here.