1/16/2010 – Loek van Wely, playing in Wijk an Zee for the 19th time is succession, started off with a fine text-book victory over Nigel Short, while Alexei Shirov, playing the black side of Ruy Lopez Moeller, punished Peter Leko's exchange sacrifice in a fine endgame performance. Live coverage with audio commentary is available on the Playchess server. Big pictorial report.

1/15/2010 – Just one more day without top-level chess. On Saturday the action starts, in the Dutch seaside town, with three incredibly strong invitationals. Friday was the opening ceremony and pairings, on Saturday we will see the first round at 13:30h local time. Live coverage is available on Playchess, with audio commentary by GMs Yasser Seirawan and Daniel King. Pictures and video report.

1/15/2010 – Our endgame blog started the New Year on the subject of barriers. Just a week later, we can offer you two more examples on this important theme. In Getz-O'Toole, played in the Masters in Hastings, White won in exemplary fashion with the help of a horizontal barrier. A vertical barrier could be seen in Sasikiran-Aronian, where a draw would have been the correct result. But the world class Armenian GM went wrong, allowing Sasikiran to win with flawless technique. Would you have found the correct move in the diagram? Black to play and draw! The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

1/15/2010 – A new version of our pocket-sized grandmaster was released in mid December. It contains the chess engine Hiarcs 13, about which you may have read in our Copa Mercosur report. The program, as it is suggested by the DVD cover, is a complete multitask tool for training and enjoying chess. In a new series we introduce you to this Swiss penknife amongst chess programs, starting with the basics.

1/14/2010 – We hear a collective sigh of relief: after the Tal Memorial, the World Blitz, the London Chess Classic and the World Team Championship (ended yesterday), some chess fans out there were feeling a twinge of withdrawal. Not to worry: top GMs are currently arriving in the Dutch seaside town for the annual chess festival. We will provide full coverage on Playchess. Here are the tournament details.

1/13/2010 – Going into the final round with a one match point lead Russia cleared all doubts by defeating Israel 3-1. USA drew Azerbaijan on all four boards and came second, while India trounced Brazil 3.5:0.5 to overtake the Azeris and win Bronze. Best performers were Mamedyarov and Vitiugov, the best on the top boards was Hikaru Nakamura. Final report.

1/13/2010 – All good things come to an end, and Hikaru Nakamura's 3061 was dampened by a loss to Levon Aronian (Hikaru is now playing at a modest 2894 level). Armenia beat USA 2½-½, while Russia crushed Egypt 3½-½ to take the lead with 13 match points to 12 for the US. Two teams are in striking distance before the last round, which starts three hours earlier. Report and games.

1/13/2010 – On February 18, 2010, during the Aeroflot tournament, a double nine-round Swiss blitz tournament will be held in Moscow – a qualifier for the World Blitz Championship to be held in November 2010 after the Tal Memorial. Would you like to take part in the Feb. 18 tournament? Three places, including flight expenses and hotel in Moscow, are available to the winners of this FIDE Playchess qualifier.

1/13/2010 – When you are the world's number one player, and when your coach is the legendary Garry Kasparov, then you don't go into training camp just anywhere. Magnus Carlsen travelled to Morocco, took residence in a five-star garden hotel, and conducted intense preparation for the Wijk aan Zee super-GM. The two also played a double simul for their hosts. We have games.

1/12/2010 – We continue this week with our second look at the chess of the great Akiba Rubinstein, one of the greatest players never to become world champion. Rubinstein was a supreme master in all phases of the game, of course, but his endgame skill was legendary. A lofty claim, but we'll see clear evidence for this in this week's Playchess lecture by Dennis Monokroussos. 9 p.m. EST.

1/12/2010 – The big surprise in round seven was Turkey's 2½-1½ win over Israel (Sutovsky and Rodshtein lost to Yilmaz and Esen). The USA beat Greece with the same score, while Russia drew Armenia. That meant that the US is now in the sole lead, with twelve match points to Russia's eleven. Azerbaijan and India follow with nine match points each. Two rounds to go.

1/10/2010 – We single this round and this game in the World Team Championship in Bursa, Turkey, because of its sheer audacity. Hikaru Nakamura of the US, facing the world's number six, Boris Gelfan, with the black pieces, sacrificed a knight on move 23, left his queen hanging to a pawn and won in great style. After six rounds Russia and the US lead. Illustrated report.