9/28/2010 – After a slip-up in the third round, Ukraine had duly won all their next encounters, and met Georgia in an exciting clash. Jobava went all out for the win, but was unable to break Ivanchuk, who reigns alone atop Mount Olympiad with 6/6. Armenia was defeated by Azerbaijan, while the Russian women crushed Hungary 4-0. After Carlsen, it was another 2800's turn to slip unexpectedly.

9/27/2010 – Not Harry Belafonte, Tony Curtis or Peter Falk. The other 95% of our readers – and 100% of our French friends – got it right: Jean-Paul Belmondo, the legendary actor and icon of French cinema, enjoying life now at 77. He spent some time chatting with the Azeri grandmaster Teimour Radjabov, who was thrilled to the marrow. Here's some JPB bio and film scenes.

9/26/2010 – It was a difficult day for the top two Russian men's teams (of their five), as Hungary beat Russia 1, playing without Kramnik, by 2.5-1.5 while Armenia defeated Russia 2 by the same score. The Georgian men crushed the Vietnamese team by 3.5-0.5, and of the top three are the heaviest scorers. In the women's section, Russia 1 overcame China in a tough match. Round five report.

9/26/2010 – A mutilated score-sheet, a perplexing death, an organizer’s pairing problem, a secret service code, a Latin cryptogram and a task involving sawing up a chessboard. These are just some of the dozen chess-related puzzles of logic, deduction and mathematics which have been brought together by the Editor of Chess Notes. Pit your wits against some of history's greatest puzzle-makers.

9/26/2010 – With so many games, and so many players, there has been plenty of tragedy and brilliance to go around. In order to celebrate the brightest moments of players of all strengths, we have selected sixteen positions for you to test your skills. All are accessible, and should give your neurons a good workout until the next round of action. Try our mid-tournament tactical quiz.

9/24/2010 – Tactics sometimes seem to come out of thin air, but in reality the patterns were there all along, waiting to be discovered, assimilated and played. GM Daniel King shows you many fundamental patterns and explains how and when these crop up in real games. In this, the latest addition to the Power Play series, will you pass the test? Review by Patrick Goldsworthy.

9/24/2010 – After the success of this newly organised tournament last year, the second edition of the Chess Classic promises to be an even greater event. It will be staged in London from December 8 to 15, 2010 and includes the current World Champion (Anand), his predecessor (Kramnik) and his possible successor (Carlsen), plus a bevy of high-class players. Make your plans now – here are the details.

9/24/2010 – If it wasn't a venerable British newspaper we would think it was a tease. After one short enquiry Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who hopes to be re-elected FIDE President next week, agreed to meet with Shaun Walker of The Independent in Moscow and "put forward his platform for the FIDE elections, and to share his views on life." Some of the latter are a bit startling. Don't miss it.

9/24/2010 – In the fourth round, Georgian Jobava was the hero of the day as he help his team beat Norway resoundingly with a dramatic win over Magnus Carlsen, after deviating from normal theory on move six. Russia 1 defeated the US 3-1, and Russia 2 also beat India. In a key match Hungary overcame China after Judit Polgar once more proved the star of her team. Round four report.

9/23/2010 – The second round continued with disparate pairings, but this time, instead of the oddball upset, top teams stumbled against opponents they were expected to beat. Who would have thought Bulgaria with Topalov would go down to Croatia, much less Azerbaijan, with Mamedyarov and Radjabov, to Vietnam? They no doubt dearly miss Gashimov now. Round two report with videos and games.

9/23/2010 – This is one of the best-known principles in rook endings, formulated by Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch (1862-1934), who was at the turn of the century one of the strongest players around as well as being an extremely influential chess theoretician on account of his writings on chess which earned for him the nickname of Praeceptor Germaniae. Now, you will certainly point out that in this position from the game Acs-Timman the white rook is already in position behind the passed h-pawn. And yet, White found a strong move which is in total harmony with the Tarrasch rule. Analysis by GM Karsten Müller on ChessBase Magazine Online.

9/23/2010 – It has been reported that former World Champion Boris Spassky is in intensive care after suffering a stroke in his Moscow apartment. Doctors said that after receiving an emergency call they discovered the 73-year-old Spassky in a semi-conscious state, paralyzed on his left side. They said his condition was grave. We wish our dear friend Boris Vasilievich a speedy and complete recovery.