5/1/2010 – Today's game was unlike any other ever seen in World Championship history. It started off as a normal Catalan, with Topalov deviating from the previous line that had led him to disaster in game four. Then Anand produced a novelty that led to a middlegame pitting his knight pair against Black's bishop pair, and spurred off into a unique sequence of thirteen consecutive knight moves! Express report.

4/30/2010 – The most puzzling part was our contention that there were three GMs amongst his immediate siblings and that he had never succeeded in achieving an IM title. That's because he moved straight to GM by winning the 2003 World Junior Championship. And apart from him his sisters Zeinab and Turkan are women grandmaster. Since this week Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has his own web site.

4/30/2010 – ... was the constellation in this game, where Black just had played 28...Bg5 targetting the weak spot on e3. What do you think, which assessment is valid in this situation?
A) White has the advantage, but the realization of his plus pawn is difficult;
B) he can win instantly;
C) the position is balanced;

The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

4/30/2010 – The players played a hard fought Slav in game five, repeating the opening from game three. This time, we were able to finally see what is expected of World Championship match play, and what makes it so different from tournaments: a war of opening preparation, thematically played, with incremental attempts to improve on earlier play. Express report.

4/30/2010 – This week ChessBase Magazine's endgame expert Karsten Müller analyses the endgame from Ghaem Maghami-Aleksandrov, played in the Dubai Open 2010. It is an instructive rook endgame in which the correct checking distance for the rook has an important role to play. Remember: when the pawns are on a single wing, generally speaking one extra pawn is not enough for victory, as long as the attacking pieces are not allowed to become too active. In the position in the diagram it is White's move and his task is to find a satisfactory defence (which he didn't). What would you recommend?

4/29/2010 – Four local grandmaster (Mamadyarov, Rajabov, Mamadov and Guseinov) are joined by four foreigners (Kramnik, Kamsky, Polgar and Sutovsky) are taking part in an eight-player rapid round robin event in Baku, Azerbaijan. After two rounds Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is in the lead, after having beaten Vladimir Kramnik in the second round. Illustrated report.

4/29/2010 – This event, which is taking place from April 25th to May 8th in the Kabardino-Balkaria region of Russia, has produced eight white win (and zero with black) in three rounds. In the first bottom seed Betul Cemre Yildiz of Turkey produced a shock win against the Grand Prix leader Zhao Xue of China. GM Tatiana Kosintseva leads with 2.5/3 points. Illustrated report.

4/29/2010 – Nigel Short called game four "superb stuff from Anand," while NIIT wrote: "Anand goes into the second rest day tomorrow with a psychological edge, while it's another sleepless night for Topalov." We have collected another bunch of news stories and, after the very detailed on-the-spot analysis by GM Anish Giri yesterday, we bring you new commentary by IM Malcolm Pein.

4/28/2010 – That is not a picture of Judit Polgar with her badly mangled opponent – it is an unusual art prize she received for resoundingly defeating her opponent, top Czech GM David Navara, in the eight-game rapid chess match held by the Prague Chess Society. Judit once again demonstrated that she is the best female player of all time, with this 2900 performance.

4/28/2010 – Here's another puzzle from our early-pictures scrapbook: who is the young boy in this photo? His middle name is Hamid oglu and he is of oriental origin – or maybe not. He himself never succeeded in achieving an IM title, but amongst his immediate siblings there are three grandmasters. He has played played against and occasionally beaten no less than six world champions. Do you know who it is?

4/28/2010 – While the amount of attention this world championship is receiving in the international broadsheets – usually just an inch or two at the bottom in the sports section – is very limited, this is not the case in India, where all large newspapers are reporting on each game. We bring you quotes and links, with special attention to the draw offer and handshake situation.

4/28/2010 – Three decisive games in the first four of a world championship match? Who needs drawing rules with such knock-out hungry players? In a second Catalan, with a nothing special novelty, Anand decided it was an eye-for-an-eye when he dropped a knight onto Topalov's king to quickly achieve a spectacular victory of his own. We bring you extensive and enthusiastic analysis by GM Anish Giri.