7/17/2010 – The third round brought more fighting chess, though again only one decisive result in spite of the players’ best efforts. In an Open Catalan against Leko Kramnik was unable to achieve anything – in fact he came close to losing. Mamedyarov won a complicated and exciting game against young Le Quang Liem. Naiditsch came close to defeating the leading Ponomariov. Round three report.

7/17/2010 – Anatoly Karpov played many world championship matches for millions. Now as a candidate for FIDE President he wants to bring millions to further the game. On an Asian campaign tour, Karpov announced a worldwide development package of four million dollars. He has already announced a $100,000 for Central America, and $300,000 for the Balkan region. Where will the rest go?

7/17/2010 – World Champion Viswanathan Anand's life has quite a few lessons on the art of winning. "There’s one more thing I truly admire about him," writes author Indrajit Gupta. "In the cold and fiercely competitive world of chess, Anand is still able to retain his human touch. He is the quintessential Mr. Nice Guy, whom even his rivals can’t seem to hate!" Article and great podcast.

7/16/2010 – 15-year-old GM Ray Robson, top seed in the Junior section of the US championships, easily won his round six game to join surprise leader Parker Zhao, who lost to FM Conrad Holt, at the top of the table. Nobody will be surprised if it is all RR from now to the end. In the Women's both top contenders Anna Zatonskih and Irina Krush won their games to leave Zatonskih in the lead. Round six report.

7/16/2010 – The organizers of Dortmund have to be extra pleased this year. Their roster may be lacking a few of the absolute top Elos, which is usually the best way to keep the general public’s attention, but the players are clearly all in prime fighting mood. In round two all three games had the potential for full point scores, in the end it was only Ruslan Ponomariov who beat top seed Vladimir Kramnik. Report.

7/16/2010 – Akadij Naiditsch displayed courage when he played a well-known Najdorf line that Nigel Short had refuted 14 years ago. Had the German GM found something new and effective? Obviously not, as his opponent Shakh Mamedyarov proved. The "technicians" Ponomariov and Leko played an exciting game which the former won. Rookie Le Quang Liem drew with the top seed Kramnik. Round one report.

7/12/2010 – ... is always a good idea was White's reasoning here when he played 37.Re1-e3, covering the threat against f2 while getting the rook into position on the third rank. How is the position to be assessed after this?
A) White wins, his king is safe and there is nothing against the threats 38.d6 and Qh8+;
B) Black can land an immediate counterstrike;
C) Black gets the advantage by also combining attack with defence.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

7/11/2010 – A week ago we broke the news: tissue samples had been taken from chess champion Bobby Fischer's grave, on the order of the Icelandic Supreme Court to settle a paternity dispute. Most news sources reported that the body had been "exhumed", and our version – a hole dug in the ground next to the grave – was disputed. Now the Pastor in charge of the procedure provides clarification.

7/10/2010 – The Karpov campaign for FIDE president has made good its promise to launch a court case against the FIDE administration of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is running to retain his post. The international law firm White & Case has sent out a terse statement declaring that it is initiating a request for arbitration. What does it all mean? The New York Times has some details.

7/10/2010 – The Editor of Chess Notes discusses the unusual brilliancy by Capablanca against Kevitz at New York, 1931, on the basis of the loser’s notes in a letter written many years later. The game has been described as ‘a delightful gem with a piquant finish’ and with ‘a problem-like move’, but is the exact game-score certain? And, above all, has the Cuban’s play been over-praised?

7/9/2010 – Yesterday we went through the Ilyumzhinov election site, today we look at recent Karpov2010 campaign efforts – in the Caribbean. There is some remarkable video of a vote being taken in Puerto Rico to support the challenger's ticket. We also learn that Presidential candidate Karpov is taking up his opponent's challenge with a $100,000 sponsorship package to promote chess in Central America.

7/9/2010 – When it comes to commercial databases, Mega Database 2010, with its 4.5 million games, is really as good as it gets for both amateur and professional alike. However, if not set up properly you may miss out on key features, such as running opening statistics of any position, or the weekly automatic update that keeps your database up-to-date. Check out part 1 of our tutorial.