Rostov R7: Hou Yifan continues her stratospheric flight

8/10/2011 – The 17-year-old Chinese women's world champion is doing something extraordinary: after seven rounds of the Grand Prix, after beating Ekatrina Kovalevskaya with black, she has chalked up 6½ points with a 2966 performance. Anna Muzychuk and Antoaneta Stefanova also won their games, against Alisa Galliamova and Elina Danielian respectively. Illustrated report.

FIDE awards World Championship Match to Moscow

8/10/2011 – It seemed all settled, the South Indian city of Chennai made a bid to stage the World Championship Anand-Gelfand. Now we receive word that a rival bid from the Russian Chess Federation with a US $2.55 million prize fund has been accepted by FIDE. The women's world championship Hou Yifan vs Humpy will be in Tirana, Albania. Updated press release and first reactions, including Anand.

64th Russian Championship – Svidler beats Kramnik in round one

8/9/2011 – This year's Russian championship marks its 64th edition, yet also marks the shortest championship in history with a mere seven rounds to determine the winner. It makes up for it somewhat with a stellar field including Kramnik, Karjakin, Grischuk and more, and fantastic video coverage. Svidler beats Kramnik in the very first round, staking a strong claim on the title. Illustrated report.

Rostov R6: T. Hou Yifan resumes winning streak

8/9/2011 – She's back to her old ways, after a single draw in round five. Women's world champion Hou Yifan from China wrung a full point from GM Elina Danielian from Armenia. Russian GM Tatiana Kosentseva won a second game in this event and moved up to Kateryna Lahno in shared second place, 1.5 point behind the leader. Hou's performance so far: 2953. Round six report.

World Junior: Rombaldoni rampage continues with 6.0/6

8/9/2011 – He's just a lowly IM, ranked 28th on the seeding list. But the Italian IM Axel Rombaldoni is making mincemeat of the competition. After six rounds of the World Junior in Chennai he still has a perfect score, and the official results page calculates a 3218 performance for the 2459 rated player. In the girls' section WGM Olga Girya has conceded a draw and has a 2626 performance. Round six report.

64th Russian Championship – Black day for black queens

8/9/2011 – It was an exciting round for chess fans, as Kramnik shrugged off his first round loss with a convincing win over Timofeev in round two. Artyom's queen found itself desperately seeking shelter, a situation that led to his demise. Morozevich played a heart-thumping do-or-die attack which almost went bad, but in the end his courage was rewarded as he caught Grischuk's queen. Round two report.

Rostov R5: Four wins, three with the black pieces

8/8/2011 – The appropriate headline would have been: "Yifan draws!" But let us give the others their due: Alisa Galliamova beat Ruan Lufei; Humpy beat Alexandra Kosteniuk, Elina Danielian blundered against Kateryna Lahno and lost, and Tatiana Kosentseva beat Ekaterina Kovalevskaya out of an equal position. Hou Yifan leads by a full point, followed by Lahno. Big pictorial report.

Shipov: Chess as a sport and the three-point system

8/7/2011 – Sergei Shipov is a Russian grandmaster (peak Elo 2662), trainer of many top players and talented juniors, journalist and author. His web site Crestbook is well appreciated by Russian fans, as is his live commentary in top events. Sergei sent us the following article, in which he weighs in on our recent debate, initiated by GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov, on draws in chess.

World Junior: Rombaldoni and Girya lead with perfect scores

8/7/2011 – Italian IM Axel Rombaldoni, rated 2459 and 28th seed in the 50th World Junior Championship, has scored a clean 5.0/5 and is leading ahead of 18 GMs. In the girls' section fourth seed WGM Olga Girya of Russia, rated 2371, has likewise swept away all her opponents in the first five rounds. There have again been many upsets, with local lads stealing points from international GMs. Round five report.

Daniil Dubov, grandmaster at fourteen

8/7/2011 – He is currently the second youngest GM in the world (the youngest by a few months is Illya Nyzhnyk). Born April 18, 1996 in Russia, Daniil Dubov became an FM in 2008, an IM in 2010 and a GM on 28 March 2011, at 14 years 11 months and 14 days. This rising Russian star has played with astonishing consistency since he took up competition chess. He has also forced us to update our records list.

British Championship: Michael Adams wins the title

8/6/2011 – It was a gripping final stage of the Darwin Strategic 98th British Championships. In round ten Nigel Short once again caught his main rival Michael Adams. In the final round both fell into some trouble with their games but managed to draw. This meant that there had to be a play-off for the title on Saturday, after the closing ceremony. Mickey Adams won it in the second game. Update.

Rostov R4: Yifan wins again, now 1.5 points ahead

8/6/2011 – Women's FIDE Grand Prix Hou Yifan continued her victory streak with a fourth consecutive win in this Grand Prix tournament. Kateryna Lahno also took home a full point after her opponent blundered in time trouble.The other four games were drawn, with Elina Danielian close to winning until a time trouble blunder. Hou Yifan leads by 1.5 point with Lahno alone in second place. Round four report.

World Junior & Girls Chess Championships under way

8/5/2011 – There are a total of 196 participants, almost half of them from India, in the SDAT–RAMCO 50th World Junior & 29th Junior Girls Chess Championships 2011, which is taking place from August 3 to 15 in Chennai, India. 80 of the players are titled. In the first three rounds there were plenty of surprises, with GMs being taken down by 13-year-old half-pints. Big pictorial report.

Rostov R3: Yifan strikes yet again, leads with 3.0/3

8/5/2011 – We must repeat our headline. The remarkable 17-year-old women's world champion Hou Yifan has struck again, with a third win in succession. But the other ladies showed similar fighting spirit: five of six games were decisive, and we speculate that there may soon be plans to prevent too many wins in women's chess. Anyway, exciting chess, as we demonstrate in our big round three report.

Rostov R2: Yifan strikes again, leads with 2.0/2

8/4/2011 – Women's world champion Hou Yifan is on the rise. After some lack-luster events she has started this very strong tournament with two successive wins. Russian GM Nadezhda Kosintseva and Chinese WGM Ruan Lufei also picked up full points, while top seed Koneru Humpy had to defend for 111 moves against Antoaneta Stefanova. "Etti" has played a total of 209 moves in two games.

CBM Blog: Knight Tactics, Tactical Tricks and Ask the Expert

8/3/2011 – In endings with rook and knight a slight initiative often counts for a lot, as our endgame expert Dr. Karsten Müller shows. And that in rook endings small details often make the difference between a win and a draw. As a special treat, on Thursday at 5 p.m. CEST, you can consult GM Müller live in our "Ask the Expert" show on Playchess. Be there and improve your chess.

British Championship: Adams, Short lead after eight rounds

8/3/2011 – Tuesday was the big day: the two top seeds and leaders of the Darwin Strategic British Chess Championships faced each other in a summit game. Nigel Short played a Giuoco Pianissimo against his main rival in Britain, Michael Adams. The game was drawn after an interesting 46-move battle. The two remain in the sole lead, with three players half a point behind. Illustrated report.

Rostov Women Grand Prix: Hou Yifan and Lahno score

8/3/2011 – This FIDE event is taking place in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, from August 2nd to 14. It is one of the strongest women tournaments of all times, boasting the current and two former world champions. As chance would have it the two strongest players met in the very first round, with reigning world champion Hou Yifan triumphing over top seed Koneru Humpy. Round one report.

Kasimdzhanov's proposal – our readers react

8/3/2011 – Two weeks ago former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov made a startling proposal, designed to lift chess out of what he perceives to be a crisis: eliminate draws by playing rapid and then blitz games if there is no decisive result. Naturally our readers commented on this idea with vigor – and many with interesting counter-proposals. Here is a (very large) selection of letters.

Lake Sevan 2011 - Jobava wins volcanic event

8/2/2011 – Held in the upper recesses of Armenia, the GM tournament of Lake Sevan took place in the Armenian Volcanic Highlands, offering breathtaking views to the participants, alongside top-notch chess. The tournament was won by Baadur Jobava on tie-break over Hrant Melkumyan. Completing his profile on the tournament, here is the pictorial with commented games by IM Ashot Nadanian.

2011 Turkish Youth Championships

8/2/2011 – The 2011 Turkish Youth Championship took place July 23-28 in Istanbul, host to the 2012 Chess Olympiad. Since the start of the "Chess in schools" program, TCF statistics show that from 2005 to 2010 the number of children learning chess has increased to 2,250,000! In this year's event, the number of categories was increased to allow more to play. Large pictorial by Anastasiya Karlovich.

Lewis Chessmen Symposium at Skálholt, Iceland

8/1/2011 – In the nineteenth century a collection of chessmen, handcrafted in the twelfth century, was found on the Isle of Lewis, and have become the most famous chess set in the world. This year archaeologists discovered a new chess piece in Iceland, and the controversy surrounding the exact origins of the Lewis Chessmen takes a new twist. In August you can attend a symposium on the subject.

Adams, Short, Jones lead in British Championship

8/1/2011 – The Darwin Strategic British Chess Championships are taking in Sheffield. After six rounds the top GMs are comfortably in the lead. There are also many other events taking place: seniors, under 2000, 1800, 1400; U16, U14, U13, U12, U11, U10, U9, and, most enchanting of all, the U8 section. Top games are being commented by Andrew Martin in all-you-can-eat video coverage.

CBM Blog: Kramnik's King and Giri's flash of genius

7/31/2011 – In endings with rook and knight vs rook and bishop the knight often wants to have full control to compensate for its relative slow maneuvering ability. And in rook endings it is usually bad to advance the pawn so far that the attacking king has no shelter – unless you have a special plan. Our endgame expert Dr. Karsten Müller presents instructive lessons from the current Dortmund tournament.