Judit Polgar: “I love chess”
While Vladimir Potkin’s transformation from coach into major tournament winner was impressive, perhaps the most popular story of the recent European Championship was Judit Polgar’s spectacular return to form. After the event she gave an interview to Evgeny Surov of Chess-News.
Vladimir Potkin on chess coaching and cheating
In an interview given after becoming European Individual Champion, Vladimir Potkin talks about how he won, what it means for his “day job” of coaching Ian Nepomniachtchi, and gives his view on the cheating scandal that was the talk of the town in Aix-les-Bains.
Shipov’s final letter from Aix-les-Bains
For his last report from the European Individual Chess Championship, Sergey Shipov focussed on the role of coaches, which was particularly apt given that a coach, Russian GM Vladimir Potkin, won the title! Shipov also summed up his impressions of the event as a whole.
Danailov’s dances
In Sergey Shipov’s latest report from the European Championship in Aix-les-Bains he returned to the issue of cheating in chess, after discussing it with the President of the ECU, Silvio Danailov. Their conversation seems to shed new light on the open letter that was published yesterday.
On women
When the European Women’s Championship was postponed, many women decided to take part in the men’s event as well. Sergey Shipov reports on how that changes the chess (and social!) dynamics, and analyses a stunning win by the strongest female player in history, Judit Polgar.
What the press don’t write about
If you heard that Sergey Shipov’s sixth letter from Aix-les-Bains was about an ex-World Champion and bathroom visits… you’d come to completely the wrong conclusion! Shipov talks about the European Championship venue, and the down-to-earth reality of grandmaster life.
The massacre of the innocents
We all know that computers have transformed chess, but in his Round 5 letter from the European Individual Championship in Aix-les-Bains, Sergey Shipov gave a particularly graphic account of how computer analysis can render strong grandmasters utterly helpless against apparently weaker opponents.
How can you play against Feller?
For his third letter from the European Individual Chess Championship, Sergey Shipov addressed the issue of 20-year-old GM Sebastien Feller, who’s taking part despite having been found guilty of cheating at the Olympiad in Khanty Mansiysk by the French Chess Federation.
First impressions from Aix-les-Bains
In his first two reports from the European Individual Championship in Aix-les-Bains, Sergey Shipov described arriving in the small French town, and also addressed the failure of the favourites to dominate their much lower-rated opponents in the first round.
The future belongs to 1. g3!
Sergey Shipov was inspired to make that declaration after watching Peter Svidler play the move in the fourth round of the European Individual Chess Championship in Aix-les-Bains, France. Shipov, coaching at the event, is posting regular reports at Crestbook.
