11/4/2009 – It was a very fateful final day at the World Junior in Argentina. French GM and top seed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave worked hard to win his final game and catch the leading Sergei Zhigalko from Belarus to take Gold and the title on tiebreak. In the women's section there was even greater drama. One player missed a special $33,000 prize by a few tiebreak points. Final round report.

11/3/2009 – The recent controversy between GM Koneru Humpy, the second strongest female chess player in history, and D.V. Sundar, the Hon. Secretary of the All Indian Chess Federation, has brought us a spate of letters by our readers – and a press release of the CPAI, which represents the interests of the players, urging both parties to reach a settlement on all issues. Facts and opinions.

11/2/2009 – Everyone knows the big news: Magnus Carlsen has crossed the 2800 barrier, the fifth player in history to do so, and is now in second place in the world rankings, just nine points behind the leader Veselin Topalov. World Champion Vishwanathan Anand remains in third place, with Levon Aronian in fourth and Vladimir Kramnik in fifth. Top rankings and statistics.

11/2/2009 – Top seed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, rated 2718, is josting for top place with third seed Sergei Zhigalko of Belarus, rated 2646. In round nine both won their games and were equal first, in round ten Vachier played a quick draw, while Zhigalko won again to take the sole lead. No pictures of the chess action in Puerto Madryn, but we have received some very nice shots of whales.

11/2/2009 – "Think fast. Think under pressure. Think strategically. That’s how you win in business – and in chess." That's the motto of Your Next Move, an organisation that for the third time staged a chess event near Antwerp centered around Garry Kasparov. It was captured by the Belgian Sports TV company EXQI and is now available in extraordinary high definition. Must watch.

11/2/2009 – Karpov is definitely not the player he once was. In the second half of his rapid chess match against Viswanathan Anand the former World Champion took a 0:2 beating. Surely this is due to lack of practice and modern training methods – a deficiency that can be remedied. We bring you the games and pictures from a chess event held in the birthplace of Napoléon Bonaparte.

11/1/2009 – First there were 32-board simuls, against participants from the Corsica Masters. Reigning World Champion Anand won all his games, 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov conceded one draw, against a 15-year-old. Then they faced each other in the first of four rapid chess games. Anand won one, the second was drawn. The next two are scheduled for November 2nd. Illustrated report.

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.