11/29/2009 – This low-key blitz event took part on Saturday, November 28th in Oslo, Norway. Ten players were invited and divided into two groups, insuring that the two designated finalists, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, would meet in the final. We have with difficulty managed to get some of the games in PGN. We also have a special visual treat for you: front-seat videos of the final.

11/28/2009 – Wesley So turned 16 just seven weeks ago. He is a grandmaster and a apparently a Super-GM killer. In round two in Khanty-Mansiysk he knocked out Vassily Ivancuk; and in the first game of round three he outplayed Gata Kamsky with the black pieces. Gelfand beat Polgar and Navara beat Karjakin. Full report with pictures, commentary and an interview with Wesley So.

11/27/2009 – None of the top players left in the tiebreak matches faltered: Peter Svidler disposed efficiently of upstart Tomi Nyback; Ponomariov ground down Akobian; Eljanov and Karjakin were successful; and Alexei Shirov won all three games. Maybe one small surprise: Fabiano Caruana eliminated Leinier Dominguez, the highest rated player to drop out today. Pictorial report.

11/27/2009 – ... is certainly no exception anymore in modern opening lines (here Ruy Lopez/Moller Variation 5...Lc5), yet it should always be treated with care. Here Black was facing the question whether he could expand even further with 18...g4, trying to win White's central pawn d4. What do you think?
A) Black gets the advantage, thanks to his strong Nf5 he keeps firm control; 
B) this backfires, the position is weakened too much; ; 
C) White can equalize with precise play.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a  larger version of the diagram.

11/26/2009 – He lost in round two of the World Cup against 16-year-old Wesley So of the Philippines. Vassily Ivanchuk, one of the all-time greats of chess has taken it to heart and announced that he no longer considers himself a professional player. "Chess will become hobby for me from now on – I will just be a chess fan," said the heart-broken Ivanchuk. FIDE interview.

11/25/2009 – A very shocking day: Peter Svidler and Teimour Radjabov lost their games with the black pieces, Alexander Morozevich and Vassily Ivanchuk with white, making a comeback in the return round on Wednesday even harder. We have to go down to board eight to see a favourite (Grischuk) actually win. We bring you a full updated report with highlights and pictures by Galina Popova.

11/25/2009 – Games full of tactical ups and downs and mating motifs rightly charm every chess fan, and so it will come as no surprise that a successful attack on the king always represents a dainty morsel for all chess lovers. We have selected and annotated two attractive attacking games from the Russia Cup in Saint Petersburg. In the first of them (diagram) we see how Ian Nepomniachtchi sets about an uncastled Sicilian king. In the second game, a Ruy Lopez, Alexei Fedorov managed to reduce to rubble the castled position of the black monarch. IM Michael Kopylov for ChessBaseMagazine Online.

11/25/2009 – That would be fourth seed Alexander Morozevich, who lost 0-2 to Czech GM Viktor Laznicka; fifth seed Teimour Radjabov, who went down against Konstantin Sakaev, and Vassily Ivanchuk, who was eliminated by 16-year-old Wesley So. Top seed Boris Gelfand had a narrow scrape against Farrukh Amonatov, and Peter Svidler equalised against Tomi Nyback. Impressions by GM Peter Heine Nielsen.

11/24/2009 – After Bobby Fischer and before Magnus Carlsen, the "Best in the West" was the Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman. He played many games against Anatoly Karpov – including two title matches – beating the former world champion no fewer than eleven times. One remarkable game is the subject of this week's Playchess lecture by FM Dennis Monokroussos. Be there and watch.

11/24/2009 – A total of 1324 participants from 90 countries took part in six age groups, for boys and girls, at this World Youth Championship in Turkey. A great success for the host nation was the bronze medal for local talent Kübra Öztürk in the Girls U18 section. A protest has been submitted by the Israeli Chess Federation because no anthem was played for the winner of the Girls U14 section. Results and games.

11/24/2009 – The two big names that will leave Khanty-Mansiysk after the first round are Emil Sutovsky of Israel and Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia. The were knocked out by Chinese GMs Li Chao and Zhou Weiqi respectively (but not respectfully). Promising youngsters Parimarjan Negi and Hou Yifan are also out, while Dominguez, Navara and Bacrot made it to the next round. Illustrated report.

11/23/2009 – The big names – Gelfand, Gashimov, Svidler, Morozevich, Radjabov, Ivanchuk, Ponomariov, Grischuk, Jakovenko, Eljanov, Karjakin, Mamedyarov, Shirov – all are through after two rounds of play in Khanty-Mansiysk. Biggest upset so far: Chinese GM Yu Yangyi, 113th seed and rated 2527, knocked out 16th seed Sergei Movsesian, rated 2718. Day two report.