11/9/2009 – On the latest Elo rating list we find Pavel Eljanov at 2729 Elo points on place 17. In the live rankings, with his extraordinary European Team Championship results evaluated, he is number 11 in the world. The Ukrainian GM has been climbing steadly since April. His secret: enormous talent, hard work – and marriage! We bring you a photo report and an annotated brilliancy by Pavel Eljanov.

11/8/2009 – All games were drawn, except one: Vladimir Kramnik beat Peter Svidler in an Exchange Grünfeld that looked quite effortless on the part of the former World Champion. Magnus Carlsen, it was revealed, is suffering from a throat infection and has played his last three games with A fever. The Norwegian is now on antibiotics. Full report to follow, but here are the games and results.

11/7/2009 – At last: after ten drawn games in the first two rounds the public suddenly had three decisive games on the third day. Vishy Anand piled the pressure on Peter Svidler in an Exchange Grünfeld until the latter cracked; Levon Aronian outplayed Peter Leko in a Semi-Slav; and Vladimir Kramnik played another splendid game, defeating Alexander Morozevich with the black pieces. Round three report.

11/6/2009 – ... we see in this position, where Black had just played ...Ng6-f4, attacking White's queen and rook. How would you assess the situation now?

A) The fork wins for Black; 
B) White can get away with perpetual check; 
C) He can actually give mate.

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

11/6/2009 – We are not complaining – yet. Two or three of today's games were quite exciting. But somehow we miss the rush of wins, and a table in which not everyone is in the lead. That will happen tomorrow. It must. Today it was Ponomariov and Ivanchuk who put some token pressure on Aronian and Svidler, but in the end the result was five draws. Round two report.

11/5/2009 – The European Team Championship in Novi Sad witnessed an exciting final round in which the decision as to who would win the gold medal came as the result of a rook ending. Vugar Gashimov, White, absolutely had to win in order to secure the title for the Azerbaijani team. Daniel Stellwagen, Black, was fighting for a draw. In the position shown in our diagram, which move would you have chosen as Black? Think carefully.
GM Karsten Müller has analysed the decisive phase of the endgame Gashimov-Stellwagen for ChessBase Magazine Online.

10/31/2009 – Daniel Stellwagen had fought bravely for 69 grueling moves. On move 70 the Dutch GM played the only rook move that lost him a drawn position. Azeri Vugar Gashimov seized the chance and won Gold for his team. Russia was second and Ukraine third. In the women's section it was Russia ahead of Georgia on tiebreak points. Here, too, with Ukraine took Bronze. Final report.

10/30/2009 – What usually happens is that extra forces help the besieging army storm fortresses. But there is also the opposite case, when the presence of extra material actually saves the defending side, as in the present situation. If he did not have his rook, Black would be totally lost in the duel between White's remaining rook and the black bishop. But White simply cannot force the exchange of rooks:

Analysis Spoelman-Najer

10/30/2009 – With one round to go in the European Team Championship Russia and Azerbaijan are leading, two match points ahead of five teams in the follow-up group. In the women's section Russia and Georgia are leading, three points ahead of any other rivals (best performance: Alexandra Kosteniuk). Playchess will broadcast the two exciting struggles for Gold. Round seven and eight reports.

10/30/2009 – Puerto Madryn is a city on the east coast of southern Argentina, in a geographical region known as Patagonia. In this remote place, where right whales and dolphins congregate, 84 of the most talented young players – under twenty years old – are playing for a prestigeous title. The girls's section has 45 contestants. The official web site is unfortunately comprimised, but we have results and games.

10/29/2009 – ...can completely change the evaluation of a position in one single moment. Here 34.Nc4xe5 had just been played,, and now Black inserted 34....g3 (diagram) in an attempt to deflect White's queen and prevent his pawn d4 from being taken. What do you say on this? A) good idea, 35.Qxg3 fxe5 is forced, reducing any black disadvantage to a minimum; B) White has a trick with a discovered attack in the e-file; C) Black jumps out of the frying pan into the fire since d4 is falling anyway. The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a  larger version of the diagram.

10/28/2009 – Last month we reported on the Women's World Team Championship in Ningbo. An exciting event in a remote place. While most players just flew in and out, one, IM Irina Krush, first board of the US team, took time to look around. Irina travelled from Shanghai to Ningbo, Hangzhou and Guilin, enjoyed the countryside, met the people, tried the food and sent us a remarkable photo documentation.