3/16/2009 – Owing to technical and communications problems we have not been able to do wall-to-wall coverage of the very attractive FIDE Women Masters in Turkey, where the Chinese GMs Hou Yifan and Zhao Xue are dominating in stunning fashion, with 2905 and 2746 performances respectively. But now we intend to take up reporting again for the last four rounds. Here for starters is a big pictorial report.

3/15/2009 – After seven rounds of the European Individual Women's Championship, an 11-round Swiss with 168 players which is taking place from March 7–21 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the sole leader is GM Hoang Thanh Trang with 6.0/7 points. Twelve players follow half a point behind. We bring you results and games, new videos by Europe Echecs and beautiful player portraits by WGM Irina Sudakova.

3/15/2009 – Last year Levon Aronian won the blindfold and rapid spectacle in Nice by 2½ points. This year he has started with a 2-0 score – against his first opponent, Vassily Ivanchuk. The Amber tournament is being staged in the Palais de la Mediterranée in Nice and carries a prize fund of € 216,000. As a special service we bring you, this year and with pleasure, special photo coverage by John Nunn.

3/15/2009 – G.N. Gopal, 19, is one of India's bright young stars, with high ambitions for the next Asian and the World Junior Championship. Unfortunately he may not be able to participate. The Indian Chess Federation is considering a one-year ban, since Gopal failed to play in the national championship (he had a prior contractual obligation to play in an event in Mexico). Media news and Gopal's views.

3/14/2009 – In the past month we brought you two sections of an unprecedented in-depth interview conducted by Indian colleagues with World Champion Viswanathan Anand. Today we continue the series with Anand's take on game formats, computer moves (ugly or creative?), Karpov, Kasparov, and secretly watching people on the chess servers. Part three of four.

3/13/2009 – The Mediterranean coastal town in Montenegro is just a stone's throw away from the venue of the Fischer-Spassky revenge match of 1992. The eleven-round Swiss event with 306 players has a prize fund of 120,000 Euros, with 22 places in the next World Cup at stake. After seven rounds Ukrainian GM Andrei Volokitin is in the sole lead. A 12-year-old is doing fine too. Big illustrated report.

3/13/2009 – When he was crushed at the Aeroflot Open by a weaker player in just 21 moves top seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov withdrew in protest, claiming his opponent had been using computer assistance. The accused, Igor Kurnosov, replied with an open letter, and ten days later Mamedyarov restated (and emphasized) his claims. All this has produced vigorous feedback from our readers. Excerpts.

3/12/2009 – For the moment Sergei Tiviakov is on a roll – he is gaining Elo points all over the place (Moscow op, Pfalz op, Bundesliga) and in the Live Top List he is already over 2700 as well as being in 26^th place. His last game before the European championships, against Feygin (for Eppingen in the Bundesliga), caught our interest particularly because what was up for discussion was a Tarrasch French with 3.Nd2 Be7 – exactly the variation which Hannes Langrock has been putting under the microscope from Black’s point of view in, so far, three articles (CBM 126, 127 and 128). Tiviakov chose the line with 4.c3, the final one to be investigated by Langrock in CBM 129, which is in preparation even as we speak. Could the reigning European champion demonstrate some advantage for White? A sneak preview of CBM 129.

3/12/2009 – The nine-round open went from Saturday, February 28th to Saturday, March 07. Once again the organisers experimented with a new time contol, the “Decreasingly Accelerated System”. A total of 611 players took part, amongst them 102 GMs and 78 IMs, from 60 different countries – a good opportunity to shoot interesting portraits. Giant pictorial report by Dominique Primel.

3/12/2009 – This event, an 11-round Swiss, has 168 players and a prize fund of 87,500 Euros. There are also 14 places in the next World Championship knockout tournament up for grabs. After five rounds four players are in the lead with 4.5 points, followed by eleven with 4.0 points. One participant is just ten. The husband of one of the favourites (can you guess who?) is providing us with photos and videos.

3/11/2009 – He is 28, a lawyer by training but a strong chess grandmaster by profession. Recently Alexander Moiseenko won the very strong Aeroflot Open, together with Etienne Bacrot. This is just the culmination of a row of successful tournaments. Moiseenko spoke at length with our correspondent WGM Anastasiya Karlovich about training, tournament strategy and chess in Ukraine. Interview.

3/11/2009 – Two weeks ago we reported from the Aeroflot Open, where top seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov withdrew after a game where he felt his opponent, GM Igor Kurnosov, had been receiving computer assistance. A week later Kurnosov responded, and now Mamedyarov, who is not prepared to let the matter drop, has published a strongly-worded letter on an Azeri sports website. Translation.