Socko, Robson, Petrov and Berg win Arctic Challenge

8/10/2009 – This was the greatest performance of her career: Polish GM Monika Socko shared first place with 14-year-old IM Ray Robson of the US, Bulgarian IM Marijan Petrov and Sweden's top GM Emanuel Berg. But she took the title on tiebreak points and with a performance of 2639. We bring you a final report by IM Torstein Bae with a beautiful Robson game and pictures and videos from Tromsø.

FIDE Grand Prix in Jermuk has started

8/10/2009 – The fifth FIDE Grand Prix Series Tournament is being held from August 9 to 23, 2009, in the Armenian health resort of Jermuk and is dedicated to World Champion Tigran Petrosian, who would have turned eighty this year. You can watch the games on the excellent official web site or on Playchess.com. In the first round of the event Peter Leko and Ivan Cheparinov scored wins. Round one report.

A very hard nut to crack...

8/10/2009 – ... as well as a treat to annotate was the following highlight of last year's European Individual Championship, containing a great deal of combinatorial motifs - deflection, mate patterns, passed pawns, sub-promotion... In this position Black could have uncorked 31...Qc2, and after 32.Nf8+ Kg8 your judgement is required: A) White can throw in the towel. B) Black is not the only one to unpack study-like moves – the game ends in a draw by force. C) keeping his nerves, White also keeps the full point. In the game Black continued 1...exf1+ 32.Qxf1 Kxg6 and lost - why? The solution is here but first ponder it with a larger version of the diagram.

'No more coincidences' – interview with IM Aly Yasseen

8/9/2009 – Egyptian International Master Aly Yasseen is a well-known and prominent figure in the African and the Arab chess worlds. His chess achievements are many, among which include being a two-time Egyptian Champion. He now works as a technical director and coach in the Smouha Club Chess Academy (SCCA) in Alexandria, Egypt. He shares his views in this exclusive interview.

Bilbao Masters: Topalov out, Aronian in

8/8/2009 – Originally it was bigger, with the winners of six major tournaments invited to participate in the Basque town of Bilbao. A major financial crisis led to the down paring of the event to a four-player double round robin (six rounds) and the prize fund considerably reduced from last year's total of €400,000. Now one of the participants, Veselin Topalov, has opted out, and is replaced by Levon Aronian. Press release.

Tromsø 2009 – Socko, Petrov and Robson lead

8/8/2009 – Make no mistake, it is GM Monika Socko, not her top-rated husband Bartosz, who is leading the Arctic Challenge with 6.0/7 and a 2703 performance. No less sensational is that 14-year-old IM Ray Robson is sharing first with a 2679 performance. The action is exciting ("hammer time") and the landscape lovely in the land of the midnight sun. Big illustrated report by Misha Savinov.

L'Ami wins Dieren – impressions by Fred Lucas

8/7/2009 – The Netherlands Championship, which took place from July 21st-30th, was finally won by GM Erwin L'Ami. 15-year-old Anish Giri, who had led with 5.0/5 points and a 3164 performance, ended in second place, together with Jan Timman and FM Roi Miedema. "There are now one billion photographers on the planet," sighs Dutch professional Fred Lucas. Here are his extraordinary visual impressions.

The World’s Oldest Chess Club: Part III (1945–1961)

8/7/2009 – Sunday, 9 August 2009, heralds the start of the events around the 200-year anniversary of the Schachgesellschaft Zürich, the oldest chess club in the world. Attendees on the final weekend (August 22-23) include Kasparov, Anand, Karpov, Korchnoi, Kramnik, Spassky, Ponomariov and Topalov. Richard Forster and Christian Rohrer retrace the historical development of the Schachgesellschaft.

FM Raja Panjwani takes Canadian Junior Championship

8/7/2009 – In Canadian youth and junior chess, a number of names are becoming difficult to forget, but note these two: FMs Raja Panjwani and Eric Hansen. They will not be going away anytime soon, as indicated by recent performances at the Victoria Summer Chess Festival. With the Bluvshtein-Nakamura encounter serving as a warm up to the main events, things just got better from there.

Tromsø 2009 – four lead in Arctic Chess Challenge

8/6/2009 – At the Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsø 120 players are competing in the year’s most prestigious Norwegian event. After five of nine rounds there are four players in the lead. Three are GMs, one a female, but the fourth is of particular interest: 14-year-old US American IM Ray Robson, whom some people are calling the new Bobby Fischer. Pictorial report by IM Torstein Bae.

Putting all your eggs into one basket

8/5/2009 – The Grünfeld Defense is a very popular opening, and with good reason. It's fundamentally sound, yet dynamic, which means that Black gets fairly good winning chances without doing anything too insane. But not without risks, as Dennis Monokroussos shows us in his Wednesday night Playchess lecture. 9 p.m. ET.

Coming soon to a Divan close to you – London honours its chess greats

8/5/2009 – Yes, it's that time of year again! London's premier chess event in recent years returns to action on Saturday 8 August, at its traditional home of Simpsons-in-the-Strand. It is a double-round Scheveningen between England and Holland, with each side fielding five of their top players. The event is once again sponsored by Dutch chess maecenas Jan Mol, and will be broadcast on the Internet.

Sergey and Kateryna tie the knot

8/5/2009 – My, how time flies. Only last week (it seems) they were cute little kids, and now they are all grown up and have started to marry. Sergey Karjakin became internationally famous when he completed his GM norms at the record-breaking age of 12. That was in 2002. Today he is nineteen and a world-class GM. His bride is WIM Kateryna Dolzhikova, 20. Congratulations to the happy couple.

Chess Classic: Mamedyarov wins Ordix Open

8/4/2009 – As always, the ORDIX Open at the Chess Classic in Mainz was decided in the final rounds, with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov beating Hikaru Nakamura, USA, in a critical penultimate game. The Azeri grandmaster won the event with a record-breaking ten points from eleven games. Vugar Gashimov, Vladimir Akopian and Arkadij Naiditsch followed with 9.5 points. Illustrated report.

Solution to the CBM competition

8/4/2009 – Apparently there is no single Kramnik game which by its class is considered to stand out from all the others (as is, for example, the case for Kasparov's famous sacrificial attack against Topalov, Wijk 1999). However, the favourite games by the Russian player sent in to us by readers represent a great variety of important and beautiful victories. This is our lucky winner…

2009 Politiken Cup: Negi Nails Nordic Natives

8/4/2009 – The Politiken Cup has been an annual tradition, as a part of the Copenhagen Chess Festival. This year's edition, running from July 18-26, served also as the Nordic Chess Championship. GMs Parimarjan Negi and Boris Avruk ultimately emerged victorious in the overall championship, though the locals gave them a run for their money. Annotation by Negi.

Toshkent Xokimi kubogi: What we say in Uzbek for 'Tashkent Mayor's Cup'

8/3/2009 – Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, one of the world’s oldest cities, is celebrating its 2200-year anniversary this year. Among other events was an open chess tournament, seeing the top players from Uzbekistan and neighboring countries. Organized by the Mayor’s Office and Tashkent Chess Federation, it was the first edition of what, it is hoped, will turn into a traditional event.

Tiger Lilov’s Chess Show: Plan like a Grandmaster! – Part 2

8/3/2009 – Bulgarian chess trainer FM Valeri Lilov, rated 2411, has a weekly show on Playchess.com. On Mondays at 20:00h CEST (7 p.m. London, 2 p.m. New York) he presents practical chess problems and interesting themes based on games taken from recent super-tournaments. This time he will focus on the Planning in the games of grandmasters, with live audio commentary. Take a look, it’s free!

Ordix Open: eight players lead with 5-0

8/2/2009 – The ORDIX Open is a fixed date in the chess calendar for many rapid chess lovers and, this year no fewer than 694 participants made the pilgrimage to the Mainz Chess Classic. After the first five rounds, there are still eight players with a clean sheet: Grischuk, Sargissian, Meier, Mamedyarov, Naiditsch, Navara, Landa and Nielsen. Six more rounds are being played on Sunday. Illustrated report.

Chess Classic: Aronian wins final in smooth style

8/2/2009 – After World Champion Vishy Anand failed to qualify for the final of the GrenkeLeasing Rapid World Championship, Levon Aronian was clear favorite to win the title against Ian Nepomniachtchi. And indeed, the Armenian had no trouble beating his young opponent 3-1. The only surprise was how easily he seemed to do it. Anand drew his match for third place with Arkadij Naiditsch. Final report.

Chess Classic: Rybka wins Chess960 Computer World Championship

8/2/2009 – Remember Bobby Fischer winning US Championships – and Candidates matches – with incredible "to zero" scores? The American computer program Rybka reminded everyone of her (Rybka is female) famous human compatriot by winning the Chess960 World Championship qualifier 11.5/12. In the final Rybka beat her main rival Shredder 3:1. Congratulations to author Vasik Rajlich.

Tromsø 2009 – the Arctic Chess Challenge

8/2/2009 – The Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsø is this year’s most prestigious event in Norway. More than 35 titled players are taking part, including 13 GMs. Top seed is Polish GM Bartosz Socko, rated 2656, with three more super-GMs just below him. The tournament is truly an international open: the 118 participants hail from 26 countries, and from all parts of the world. Pictorial report.

Chess Classic: 'That’s life: if you play badly you get punished'

8/2/2009 – These words come from the eleven-time Chess Classic winner Vishy Anand, who failed to qualify this time for the final on Sunday. Anand had a good position in his must-win game against Ian Nepomniachtchi – Q+2P vs Q – but only managed a draw. Levon Aronian, on the other hand, beat Naiditsch to secure his place one round before the end. Aronian plays Nepomniachtchi in the final.

Chess Classic: Grischuk wins FiNet Chess 960 Open

8/1/2009 – In Chess960 the pieces are shuffled before the start of each game – to eliminate all opening preparation. But does that render top GMs helpless? It does not. For a long stretch Gata Kamsky, was leading. He lost to former world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov in the final round, so that the winner in the end was top seed Alexander Grischuk. Report with lovely pictures by Christian Bossert.