'I am ready to resume negotiations with FIDE'

5/19/2009 – Josef Resch is the President of UEP, the company that organised the 2008 World Championship in Bonn, a successful businessman from Mukachevo in Western Ukraine. In recent months UEP was bidding for the organisation of the 2010-2011 cycle – with a four million Euro budget. But negotiations with FIDE broke down. Now Josef Resch explains why. Sport Express interview.

Ilyumzhinov: 'It is not the size of the logo, it’s the principle'

5/19/2009 – In our previous report the UEP President Josef Resch harshly criticized the negotiations with FIDE. The President of the World Chess Federation reacted immediately with his own somewhat different take on the matter. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov describes the course of events and how the negotiations collapsed. In this Sport Express interview he provides a number of other interesting tidbits. Must read.

Monday night: chess lessons for beginners and fans

5/18/2009 – Bulgarian FIDE Master 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 high quality analysis of games from recent super-tournaments. There is live audio commentary, and visitors can forward their questions on the material at the end of each broadcast. Take a look, it’s free!

Croatia and Slovenia win the Mitropacup 2009

5/18/2009 – The Croatian Men's team won this team championship outright, on match points ahead of Italy, which had the same number of board points (22.5). In the women's section it was a start-to-finish victory for the two Slovenian teams, who took Gold and Silver. The best player in the event, by far, was the Italian GM Fabiano Caruana, who is all of sixteen years old. Results, games and video.

Hikaru Nakamura is the US Champion 2009

5/18/2009 – Not Gata? – we hear you cry. No, top seed Gata Kamsky was a point behind and took home $7,500, while Nakamura, who defeated Josh Friedel in the final round (actually he crushed him in 22 moves), got the title and the first prize of $40,000. Second was 17-year-old Robert Hess, who only managed to draw in round nine. From a wonderful championship we sign off with a final illustrated report.

Sofia Super-GM: Topalov beats Wang Yue

5/17/2009 – Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov beat Wang Yue from China in 33 moves. 18-year-old Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen drew against Alexei Shirov, Spain, in 39 moves. Cuban GM Leiner Dominguez-Perez was lucky to escape with a 49-move draw against Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk (e.g. 35...Rxg2 would have brought instant victory). Carlsen and Shirov lead. Games and standings.

US Championship: young guns battle for the US title

5/17/2009 – In the penultimate round 21-year-old Hikaru Nakamura beat the GM aspirant Michael Brooks to take the lead at the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center. He was joined at the top by Robert Hess, 17, who beat defending champion Yury Shulman. Kamsky, Onischuk and Akobian are half a point behind going into what promises to be a very exciting final round. Watch it unfold on Playchess!

Sofia Super-GM: Topalov beats Ivanchuk

5/17/2009 – Actually it was Vassily Ivanchuk who, in a completely drawn position, played a suicide move (37.Qxb7??) and gave up the whole point with white against Veselin Topalov. Wang Yue drew against Magnus Carlsen in 25 moves, Alexei Shirov drew Leinier Dominguez Perez in 43 moves. Topalov, Carlsen and Shirov lead after the first half of the tournament. Monday is a free day. Games and standings.

US Championship: young players take over the US Championship

5/16/2009 – On the free day of the spornsoring Scholastic Center appropriately staged a scholastic match. Students from two St. Louis schools experienced the thrill of playing chess on the same tables and in the same room where the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship is being contested. They even had their own name signs, just like the champs. The result: happy faces all around.

Areshchenko triumphs in Mayor's Cup – Jai Ho Mumbai!!

5/15/2009 – Six months ago the Indian financial metropolis was hit by a brutal terror attack, which accounted for nearly 200 casualties. It is very difficult to overcome such a trauma, but the city of Mumbai has a unique "Never-Say-Die" spirit to bounce back. And so it hosted the second editon of the Mumbai Mayor's International Chess Tournament, with a record 18,500 Euros prize fund. Slumdog report.

Hungary and Slovenia lead in Mitropacup 2009

5/15/2009 – It is larger than Hamburg and richer than Bill Gates. The Adriatic country that is now Slovenia was at various times part of a dozen empires and states. Today it is a fully integrated European country. And the gracious host of the Mitropacup invitational team championship 2009, where the Hungarian men are in the lead, and both Slovenian teams dominating the women's section. Illustrated report.

US Championship: Three top seeds plus rising star lead

5/15/2009 – Musical chairs: the two round six leaders, Yury Shulman and Varuzhan Akobian, lost their games (to Alexander Onischuk and Hikaru Nakamura). Gata Kamsky beat three-time US champion Joel Benjamin, to join Onischuk and Nakamura at the top of the table. But wait: 17-year-old Robert Hess defeated Josh Friedel to join them at 5.0/7 points. Report with great pictures by Betsy Dynako.

Sofia Super-GM: all games drawn

5/15/2009 – Magnus Carlsen drew a pawn-up ending against Vassily Ivanchuk after 54 moves; Wang Yue and Alexei Shirov drew their game in 39 moves; and Leinier Dominguez survived a fierce attack by Veselin Topalov to draw for a third time, with the black pieces. Carlsen, Shirov and Wang lead with 2.0/3 point, followed by Dominguez with 1.5. Games and standings.

US Championship: Shulman and Akobian hold the lead

5/14/2009 – As overnight leaders, defending Champion Yury Shulman and North Hollywood GM Varuzhan Akobian were matched up in round six. A win would have given the victor sole possession of first place, but the two drew in 33. They share the lead with 4.5 points, followed by a pack of six players, including Kamsky, Nakamura and Onischuk, half a point behind. Illustrated round six report.

Asian Chess Championship – Scandal in Kuala Lumpur

5/14/2009 – Two days ago five Uzbeks and one Kazakh set out to play in the Asian Championship in Subic, Philippines. Since the organisers had not arranged for visas to be made available at Manila Airport – there are no Philippine embassies in their native countries – the players flew to Kuala Lumpur to get their papers there. What then transpired is described in this harrowing letter by GM Anton Filippov.

Sofia Super-GM: Wang Yue beats Ivanchuk

5/14/2009 – In the Super-GM tournament in Sofia Leinier Dominguez vs Magnus Carlsen ended in a draw after 30 moves. Shirov vs Topalov lasted 27 moves longer and also ended in a draw. Top Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk lost his second game in a row with the white pieces, when Wang Yue from China defeated him in a nice pawn ending with Zugzwang. Results and games.

Hungary and Croatia lead in Mitropacup 2009

5/13/2009 – This popular team championship is being held from May 10–17 in the idyllic – and very healthy – Slovenian town of Rogaska Slatina. The men's section has four players per team, the women's two. Time controls are 90/40 + 30/rest with 30s increment per move. After four rounds the Hungarian and Croatian men lead, while in the women's section it is all about Slovenia 1 and 2. Illustrated report.

Matthew Sadler's short but successful career

5/13/2009 – He won the British Championship at 21, but in his mid-20s GM Matthew Sadler turned his back on chess, preferring a larger and more stable income in the IT world to the vicissitudes of life as a chess professional. Our Playchess lecturer Dennis Monokroussos won't let him go without a look at a Sadler brilliancy in a QGA game against Spanish GM Illescas. Be there to watch at 9 p.m. ET.

Dortmund 2009: the category 20 line-up

5/13/2009 – The Sparkassen Chess-Meeting is the most important traditional chess tournament in Germany. It is also a favourite of former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, 33, who has won it a record eight times. This year the average rating is 2744 (and the average age 25.7 years), and Kramnik has the likes of Magnus Carlsen and Peter Leko snapping at his heels. Make a note: July 2–12 2009.

World Championship cycle: FIDE-UEP negotiations fail

5/13/2009 – In February the World Chess Federation announced that it had an offer from Universal Event Promotion GmbH to stage the 2009-2011 World Champion cycle – to the tune of 3.5 to 4 million Euros. Now FIDE has announced that the parties had "not reached a final agreement." UEP blamed it on "different agendas relating to organisational sovereignty and commercial rights." Press releases.

US Championship: Shulman and Akobian make their move

5/13/2009 – In round five defending champion Yury Shulman and Varuzhan Akobian broke from the pack to take the joint lead. Akobian easily outplayed GM Jaan Ehlvest, who tried a dramatic queen sacrifice but was foiled by the cool defence of his 25-year-old opponent. Gata Kamsky, Hikaru Nakamura Alexander Onischuk and Robert Hess are half a point behind the leaders. Big illustrated report.

Sofia Super-GM: Carlsen and Shirov win

5/13/2009 – The Super-GM tournament in Sofia with six players has started today. On the first day of this double round robin event Alexei Shirov beat Vassily Ivanchuk with the black pieces. 18-year-old Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen beat Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov in 36 moves. Wang Yue and Leinier Dominguez Perez drew their game. Results and games.

Five players lead in US Championship

5/12/2009 – The 2009 U. S. Chess Championship is being held, this year for the first time, in the beautiful new St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center. In round two the youngest player in the tournament, Ray Robson, 14, was victorious over the oldest player, GM Boris Gulko. Top seed Gata Kamsky leads, together with four GM colleagues. Big illustrated report after round four.

Rating and K-factor: wrapping up the debate

5/11/2009 – The discussions regarding the K-factor – the rate at which ratings go up or down when they are calculated – reaches its climax with a wrap-up article by Dr John Nunn, grandmaster and mathematician, who evaluates the arguments that have been presented by the different parties. After this it is up to FIDE, which has already initiated positive steps settle the matter. Final installment.