Happy 50th Birthday Garry Kasparov!

Chess Magazine Black & White staff, readers and fans wish 13th World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov a fantastic 50th birthday on April 13. Birthday wishes are pouring in on his FB page and flooding the Internet. We hope to bring you a summary soon. Meanwhile, you can take part in this Garry Kasparov trivia quiz featured on his official Facebook page! Kasparov Facebook Page contest reads as follows: Quick Kasparov birthday question #1: What game position do you think will be on his chess birthday cake? Try to guess the game and move number! The answer will be revealed with a photo of his cake at his New York City birthday party...

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Asian-Jr Chess: Srinath Retains Title

International Master Narayanan Srinath has won the Asian Junior Chess title for the second time. The event was held in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Srinath had won last year in Tashkent in June 2012 along with a GM norm. He is also a former World Under-12 champion having won it at Belfort in France in 2005. Sahaj Grover was second and top seed GM Salem Saleh of UAE was third. Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam won the girls' section. India's WFM J Saranya was second. Defending champion Ivana Furtado of Goa ended the tournament in sixth place. In the Asian Junior blitz chess, Anurag Mhamal and Sahaj Grover tied for...

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RIP: Chess Legend Robert Byrne

RIP: American chess legend Robert Byrne. We have this sad news. World Chess Championship Candidate-1974 and US Chess Champion-1972 Robert Byrne is no more. His wife Ursula (Maria) Byrne announced late Friday that Robert Byrne passed away after a long illness, eight days short of his 85th birthday. The memorial service will be on Saturday, April 20, at 1 PM at Dorsey Funeral Home, 15 M Wilton Place, Ossining, NY 10562. Attendees are welcome. RSVP to ursula1732@aol.com. ( Also welcome are verbal messages that can be read out.)Byrne's dear friend Anthony Saidy says, "Robert Byrne was a pillar of American chess. I would add that uniquely, in mid-career,...

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Bangkok Chess Open Begins April 14

The 13th Bangkok Chess Club Open Tournament will be played from April 14th to 21st in Pattaya, Thailand. The tournament is organized by the Bangkok Chess Club and the playing venue is 5-star Dusit Thani Pattaya Resort. (Left: Koneru Humpy leads India challenge). Top rated Grandmasters are Nigel Short ENG 2690 (last year winner), Levente Vajda ROM 2632, Jan Gustafsson GER 2621 (winner in 2011), Humpy Koneru IND 2597, Sune Berg Hansen DEN 2566, Jozsef Horvath HUN 2538, Zong-Yuan Zhao AUS 2537, Adam Horvath HUN 2509, M.R. Venkatesh IND 2501 and Attila Czebe HUN 2488. There are two groups of play: Open category for all players, and Challenger...

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Renova Group Grand Prix from April 17

FIDE and Renova Group of Companies have announced the third leg of the Chess Grand Prix series to be held from April 17th-May 1st, 2013 in Zug, Switzerland. The organisation of the event, at such a late stage, has been realizable thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Renova Group of Companies, states a press release. Arrangements have been made in Swissever Hotel in Zug. The schedule has been maintained as originally announced:  17th April 2013 Arrivals & Opening Ceremony 18th April 2013 Round 119th April 2013 Round 220th April 2013 Round 321st April 2013 Round 422nd April 2013 Free Day23rd April 2013 Round 524th...

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Neutral Venue Please, Carlsen to NRK

by Zainab Raza Undulusi "In principle, I think it (World Chess Championship 2013) should be held on neutral ground. It has been the tradition in the past, and that is what seems most fair to me," says World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. He was speaking to Norwegian website NRK. The Indian media has announced that the match will be held in Chennai this November. However, no formal confirmation has come in from the World Chess Federation (Fide). There is usually an open bidding for the match.  Magnus Carlsen's manager Espen Agdestein, said, "It is strange that this time they should skip the bidding process. There is great interest...

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