5/17/2011 – Looking for new lines in your favourite opening? New ideas for your next tournament games. In our latest Powerbook series you will find not just lines from master-level games, but also hundreds of thousands of games played between top chess engines – a treasure-trove of unpublished chess knowledge. Best of all: the Powerbooks are inexpensive and instantly available as download. Video tutorial.

5/16/2011 – Our resident GM endgame expert shows us that even pawn endings with only a few remaining pawns can be quite tricky. In his second example he shows us a tricky pawn ending with rook and knight, one he asks you to try and work out in your mind before you look at the solution. Dr. Müller once again proves that learning can be fun.

5/16/2011 – It was G-Day for the Ks, as both Kramnik and Kamsky bowed out to Grischuk and Gelfand respectively. Grischuk pursued his "draw with white" plan into the rapids, and pushed into the blitz, where he manhandled Kramnik and went through. Kamsky beat Gelfand in game three, but the Israeli clinched the fourth, and then won the blitz. Surprise finalists. Big illustrated report.

5/15/2011 – Yesterday’s blurb might well have fitted today’s, although with the names inverted. Kamsky improved on the game two opening against Gelfand and drew in 23 moves. Kramnik-Grischuk was a hair-raising English, with both players missing golden opportunities for large, if not winning, advantages. In the end a dejected Kramnik had to accept perpetual check. GM Fabiano Caruana comments.

5/14/2011 – After eight rounds of grueling competition, Cmilyte still has the lead with 6.5/8 despite a slip in round six against GM Stefanova. With the same score, but slightly worse tiebreak, is local hero IM Khotenashvili. On the day off, the ladies were entreated to tourism and even dancing out at night sadly lacking more men! Here are the video reports by Robert Fontaine as well as pictures of the ladies.

5/14/2011 – The bad news is that we had two more draws; the good news is that at least one of the games had people on the edge of their seats until the end. It wasn't the quiet Petroff in Grischuk-Kramnik, but Kamsky-Gelfand's incredibly complicated Najdorf where both missed clear chances, and fate chose not to favor either. Once again our Russian colleagues in Kazan provided spectacular video coverage.

5/9/2011 – In this difficult position the second player Gata Kamsy went for 30...N8e7, whereupon he had to continue suffering and could save the game only by a miracle. How would be your assessment of the alternative 30...Nxd4 31.Bxd4 Bxa2 with a discovered attack on the the white bishop d4?
A) good enough for equality;
B) still worse for Black, but better than the game anyway;
C) a direct way to disaster, White wins immediately.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

5/9/2011 – The surprises took place almost at the same time. Aronian was tied Grischuk, but lost the fourth game. Kramnik tied Radjabov in all four rapids, and then lost the first blitz (of two). With a dead drawn position and 15 seconds left each, the clock died! When they resumed, thirteen minutes later, Radjabov quickly lost, after which Kramnik took the second blitz match. Report with GM commentary.

5/8/2011 – It could hardly have been more dramatic, with Topalov in a must-need situation. He played a novelty on move five, and built a small edge, but nothing more. Kamsky blundered in time-trouble, and suddenly was dead lost. Possibly fantasizing of the tiebreaks, Topalov returned the favor and is now eliminated. Tiebreaks tomorrow! Report with video plus annotations by GM Alejandro Ramirez.

5/7/2011 – Of the four games our GM annotator has selected the decisive (and most exciting one). "Topalov came prepared with a good novelty, but he didn't follow it up correctly," says Super-GM Fabiano Caruana. In fact, it only took one mistake for White's position to go downhill – that's how it works in these sharp lines." Once again Fabiano provides wonderfully insightful commentary. Learn and enjoy.

5/7/2011 – No recollection of anything like this in world championship history comes to mind. Sac by sac, and move by move, Gelfand was down more and more material for pawns against Mamedyarov until his grand total was a full SIX pawns for a rook. Astonishing. Here is the report on game three, with video of the Daily Wrap-up show, as well as the lucid and highly instructive annotations by GM Alejandro Ramirez.

5/6/2011 – ... was on the board in this game from the Asian Individual Chess Championships, where Black's had last played 30...Bd4-f2 with the idea after 31.Rxf2 to continue with 31...Qxe4. How would you judge the situation after that? White ...
A) ...wins with 32.Bf3
B) ...wins with 32.hxg4
C) ...stands badly since both continuations lose
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.