7/5/2010 – The First International Chess Tournament, which was held in this historical Moroccan city of Marrakech, attracted 140 players from all over the world. Our colleagues from the French chess magazine Europe Echecs produced video reports, which included an interview with the strongest female player in history. Judit Polgar was in Marrakech to play a simul against twenty local ladies.

7/5/2010 – ... the game often wins itself, as you can read in many text books on the attack. Just optically this piece always looks menacing, and here even a colleague is at the ready on g3. How do you judge the situation?
A) Black has too many pieces on the kingside, there can't be anything for White;
B) the first player gets a crushing attack, however, a clever preparation move is needed first; 
C) she can strike right away.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

7/4/2010 – A month ago Kirsan Ilyumzhinov revealed that he was suing his challenger for the FIDE Presidency for libel. Now the Karpov campaign is threatening legal action if FIDE does not submit the Ilyumzhinov ticket's documents for examination ("by close of business on Tuesday, July 6th"). It looks as though the campaign for FIDE president may be headed to a courtroom soon.

7/4/2010 – On July 4th, 1776, the US declared its independence from Great Britain. Since then this day has been a federal holiday, associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches and ceremonies. And now with chess puzzles, of which GM Lubomir Kavalek presents two for Independence Day. Solutions next week.

7/3/2010 – GM Nana Dzagnidze has done it yet again: she beat her main rival Lilit Mkrtchian, with the black pieces, to maintain her 1.5 point lead, now ahead of Tatiana Kosentseva. Meanwhile an eerie silence has descended over Europe. The streets are empty. Everybody watching round nine in Jermuk? No, the football World Cup in South Africa. We have a 2024 star and some soccer jests.

7/3/2010 – In the Kings Tournament Magnus Carlsen was once more very convincing, winning majestically with a lead of two points. The position Carlsen- Radjabov is taken from their seventh round game. In this ending, Black, whose move it is, has to be very careful about the safety of his king, because Carlsen's rooks occupy threatening posts. At the same time the final black pawn is under attack and the question is whether it should be defended with 45...Rg4 or 45...Ra2. Which of these two moves would you recommend Black to play? Analysis by GM Karsten Müller on ChessBase Magazine Online.

7/2/2010 – The 1st International Tournament of Marrakech took place from June 25th to July 1st, and with a generous prize-fund, held in a five-star hotel, 140 players came from 25 countries to enjoy chess in utopic conditions. GM Andrei Shchekachev took home 4000 Euros after edging GM Georg Meier by tiebreak. Complete illustrated report.

7/2/2010 – 23-year-old Nana Dzagnidze is unstoppable. In round seven of the Women's Grand Prix she won her sixth game, the fourth full point in succession. Her 6.5/7 score in this event would be normal for a player rated 2923. The Georgian GM now leads with 1.5 points (ahead of Mkrtchian and Kosintseva). We bring you games, results and beautiful free day pictures by Arman Karakhanyan.

7/1/2010 – Georgian GM Nana Dzagnidze, 23 years old, has won three games in succession and now leads the field in the Women Grand Prix by a full point. Lilit Mrktchian of Armenia has taken second place, previously occupied by Tatiana Kosintseva. After losing her first two games top seed Hou Yifan has scored 3.5/4 to edge her way towards the top. The Chinese GM has a magic potion.

7/1/2010 – Magnus Carlsen, 19-year-old GM from Norway has gained 13 points and is now 23 points ahead of the field. Topalov, Anand, Kramnik and Aronian occupy the next four places. Only one player in history has ever been rated higher than Magnus: Garry Kasparov, who peaked at 2851 exactly eleven years ago. We bring you a historical list of top ratings together with the July 2010 FIDE lists.

7/1/2010 – In an example of the growing chess community in China, the 1st Danzhou Tournament was held in the city Danzhou, in Hainan province, China. The all-grandmaster event brought in a mix of top talent ranging from the experienced pros to the budding stars. Top pro Bu Xiangzhi outlasted his competition to take it by tie-break with 6.0/9 over Li Chao. 18-year-old Ding Liren came in third.

6/30/2010 – Shockingly, there are chess writers and publishers who copy the work of others. As the Editor of Chess Notes shows, the copying may include large-scale reproduction of positions, plagiarism of text and, even, removing the real author’s name and putting someone else’s. Readers may have to rub their eyes, but in our beloved chess world all this has really happened.