64th Russian Championship – Morozevich defeats Svidler in last round

8/15/2011 – One wonders how the standings might look if Morozevich had not self-destructed against Nepomniachtchi. That said, he inflicted Svidler's only loss, beating him in the last round to take clear second, and marking his third consecutive 2800+ performance this year. Kramnik also played an uncompromising game with Black, and beat Galkin after the latter blundered in a difficult position. Final report.

64th Russian Championship – Svidler shoots into lead with dramatic win

8/14/2011 – With only three rounds to go, points carry added weight for those vying for the top spots, and it showed. Svidler seemed in danger of losing his lead to Moro, who had caught up with him, yet punched his way to victory after a dangerous slip. Morozevich gambled his certain draw with a unwarranted winning attempts, and instead lost, leaving Svidler with a full point lead. Round five report.

World Junior: Hovhannisyan and Cori+Girya lead

8/14/2011 – 14-year-old Girish Koushik, who was on a meteoric winning streak in our last report, has been brought crashing down to earth by older and more experienced GMs. In the lead after eleven (or thirteen) rounds are GM Robert Hovhannisyan in the Open section (9.0/11) and WGMs Olga Girya and Deysi Cori with 9.5/11 each. Once again our report includes endgame lessons by GM Karsten Müller.

Rostov R10: Lahno, Galliamova and Danielian win

8/14/2011 – Three decisive games, three draws: the game between two Chinese finalists of the last year’s World Championship, Ruan Lufei and Hou Yifan, ended in a draw. Kateryna Lahno won her second game in a row by defeating Antoanetta Stefanova. Alexandra Kosteniuk lost her game against Elina Danielian, while Alisa Galliamova defeated her compatriot Ekaterina Kovalevskaya. Round ten report.

Czech Pardubice Festival won by Kononenko and Navara...

8/14/2011 – ...and many others. The traditional games festival held in Pardubice is a bonanza of games and chess events, ranging from the classic Grandmaster Open, won by Kononenko, to the top Active Chess event (of three) won by Navara, to bughouse events, Fischer Random, team events, a blitz marathon, not to mention other games such as Go, Scrabble, Magic, and more. Illustrated report.

64th Russian Championship – Svidler lifts title with a round to spare

8/14/2011 – With one round to spare, Svidler continued his amazing run with a win over Nepomniachtchi, securing his sixth Russian title. If one might shake one's head at the diminished length of the event, one cannot besmirch his near 3000 Elo performance at the expense of top-ten players such as Kramnik, Karjakin, and Grischuk. Grischuk, Karjakin, and Moro will decide second. Round six report.

Rostov R9: all six games won by White!

8/13/2011 – This is not something you see every day: all games of round nine of the Women's Grand Prix were decisive and all were won by the player with the white pieces. Kateryna Lahno beat Hou Yifan, who in spite of this leads the field by a full point. Bottom seed Ekatrina Kovalevskaya beat top seed Koneru Humpy. Exciting stuff, two more rounds to go. Round nine report.

64th Russian Championship – Wins, wins, and more wins!

8/12/2011 – It doesn't get any more decisive than this: all four games ended in decisive results. Grischuk outwitted Karjakin in a balanced endgame, while Kramnik continues the trend of uncompromising results, as he pushed and shoved until Nepomniachtchi tripped and fell. Svidler overpowered Galkin, keeping the lead with Morozevich who had a very smooth win over Timofeev. Illustrated report.

CHESS Magazine: Judit Polgar on life as a Super-GM mom

8/12/2011 – When Lars Grahn asked Judit Polgar eleven years ago, as she was about to get married to her boyfriend Gustav, if she thought it was possible to combine family life with a chess career at top level, and she told him she would let me know when she had some experience of it. Eleven years and two children later Judit replied provided the answer in an in-depth interview in CHESS Magazine.

64th Russian Championship – Kramnik falls to Karjakin, three lead

8/11/2011 – Vladimir Kramnik's fighting enthusiasm took a battering from a solid Sergey Karjakin in the only decisive game of the third round. After entering a difficult endgame, Kramnik missed a resource to liquidate into a draw, and instead strayed and lost. Of the three draws, Svidler-Grischuk was the most combative, in which Svidler pressed hard, though surgical precision saved Grischuk. Round three.

World Junior: Girish leads with maiden GM norm 2732 performance

8/11/2011 – He is just 14, winner of multiple national junior championships, trained by his father. Girish Koushik has chalked up four successive wins against GMs and leads at the Sdat–Ramco 50th World Junior in Chennai. Vidit Santosh Gujrathi defeated Russian GM Aleksandr Shimanov in a 23-move miniature masterpiece. Our round eight report includes an endgame lesson by GM Karsten Müller.

Rostov R8: Stefanova and Ruan win, Hou leads by two points

8/11/2011 – Two decisive games in this round: Former women's world champion Antoanetta Stefanova won a second game in a row, against Ekaterina Kovalevskaya. The runner-up of last year's women's world championship Ruan Lufei beat Kateryna Lahno after several mistakes by the latter. The other four games were drawn, and the standings have not changed before the second rest day. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.