12/4/2009 – In two games the players were obviously quite content to leave everything to the tiebreaks: Jakovenko-Gelfand and Gashimov-Ponomariov were both drawn in 15 moves. Peter Svidler tried a King's Indian against Vladimir Malakhov but got nowhere; Shakhriyar Mamedyarov missed a clear chance against Sergey Karjakin, so he and Svidler were eliminated. Illustrated report.

12/4/2009 – ... usually means a strong positional trump. However, sometimes this alone is not enough to win the game. Here Black was facing the question whether closing the queenside with 20...b3 21.a3 (diagram) would be beneficial for him. What do you think? A) this enhances Black's spacial superiority, but doesn't yield anything concrete; B) it is a powerful continuation, considerably increasing his positional advantage; C) it's not good, White has one worry less and will be able to successfully defend himself in the centre and on the kingside.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a  larger version of the diagram.

12/3/2009 – Gelfand vs Jakovenko was a wholly uneventful 18-move draw; Ponomariov played well against Gashimov but was not able to clinch it when the opportunity came around; Shakh Mamediarov survived some shaky moments against Sergey Karjakin, only to blow it in the end; and Peter Svidler had a brilliant win against Vald Malakhov that was marred by a little point in the end. Full illustrated report.

12/2/2009 – The three youngest players – the darlings of chess fans – were knocked out in the tiebreaks in Khanty-Mansiysk. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, 19, lost to Boris Gelfand, 41; Fabiano Caruana, 17, was eliminated by Vugar Gashimov, 23; and Wesley So, 15, lost all three games to Vladimir Malakhov, 29. Jakovenko knocked out Grischuk, and Ponomariov Bacrot. Interviews with Grischuk and Shirov.

12/2/2009 – The organisers in Khanty Mansiysk, FIDE, are providing us with great material. Apart from live coverage, prompt delivery of results and games, they are also doing regular interviews with the players. Today Laurent Fressinet tells us that his wife Almira Skripchenko is the main breadwinner in the family; and Alexander Onischuk has a solution for punctual appearance at the game. Interesting ideas.

12/2/2009 – Joseph Henry Blackburne (1841-1924), nicknamed “the Black Death”, learned the game late, at the age of 19, but just two years later defeated Wilhelm Steinitz in a tournament game! In this week's Playchess lecture by FM Dennis Monokroussos looks at a classical win against Emanuel Lasker. Before that IM Merijn van Delft discusses current games. Be there and watch.

12/1/2009 – The Editor of Chess Notes reports on a stunning new book about Emanuel Lasker – a 1,079-page hardback whose contributors include Robert Hübner and Victor Korchnoi. The editors, Richard Forster, Stefan Hansen and Michael Negele, have kindly allowed a selection of rare illustrations to be presented here, and we now whet readers’ appetite for one of the great chess books of all time.

12/1/2009 – Peter Svidler and Shak Mamedyarov drew their games and went through against Alexei Shirov and Viktor Laznicka after yesterday's victories. Sergey Karjakin, who (would you believe it?) at 19 has been a grandmaster for seven years, defeated Nikita Vitiugov with black to join the two in round five. The other boards finished without decisions, so that tomorrow will see five tiebreak pairings.

11/30/2009 – That's a good way to start the fourth stage of the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk: win the first game with the black pieces. And if you manage it, as Peter Svidler did, against firebrand Alexei Shirov, who was going after your king, so much the better. A number of the other games were drawn without a real fight. But good news: everyone arrived on time, nobody was forfeited. Big illustrated report.

11/30/2009 – In a recent FIDE interview in Khanty-Mansiysk Vassily Ivanchuk, devastated by a loss to 16-year-old Filipino GM Wesley So, announced that he was giving up professional chess. We received a lot of feedback on this decision, some urging the great chess player to reconsider, other calling him a sore loser. Now Ivanchuk has acted, and it will please the first set. Feedback and retraction.

11/30/2009 – The FIDE Grand Prix was envisioned as "a series of six tournaments in leading world cities." Many experts predicted its imminent collapse, but the first five were successfully staged, with some difficulty and change of venues. It was just the "leading world cities" bit that did not quite work. Maybe for the sixth edition? You are invited to go on a seek and find mission for the host city.

11/29/2009 – After the first rapid chess tiebreak game Wang Yue and Lie Chao went to the smoking area. An arbiter warned them that their games were starting in three minutes, and then again a minute before the starting gong. But the two arrived two minutes late at the board and lost their games by forfeit. Both were subsequently eliminated. Results, pictures, games and interview.