England on the brink, fights back and leads 24.0:21.0

8/17/2009 – In round eight of the Howard Staunton Memorial the Dutch players struck a fearsome blow: a 1.5-3.5 victory to equalise their overall score against the Brits. But in round nine the island inhabitants hit back with a 4:1 win that put them in the overall 24-21 lead. With one round to go. In individual scores Nigel Short leads with 7.0/9, two points in front of his nearest rivals. Report by Steve Giddins.

2009 Hungarian National Championship: Almasi takes the title on tiebreaks

8/17/2009 – Entering into the final round, Zoltan Almasi and Ferenc Berkes held the joint lead, a half-point ahead of their nearest competitor, Csaba Balogh. After an indecisive final round, with all games drawn, Almasi and Berkes emerged as the tournament's top finishers. Unfortunately, for Berkes, with a superior Sonneborn Berger score, Almasi takes home the title.

Jermuk R7+8: Ivanchuk and Leko lead

8/17/2009 – Round seven was a slugfest, with six decisive games to one draw. Round eight was the other way around: six draws to one decisive game. The outcome: Vassily Ivanchuk and Peter Leko are in the lead with 5.5/8 points, followed by Rustam Kasimdzhanov half a point behind. We bring you a report of both rounds and once again some very insightful pictures by Arman Karakhanyan.

Bizarre opening moves and an early innovation

8/17/2009 – Innovations after move 20? There is no need to wait that long. In Aronian-Kamsky, Jermuk 2009, the Armenian came up with his innovation on move five! And five moves later he basically had a winning position. What the bizarre opening moves 1.c4 g6 2.e4 e5 3.d4 have to do with the Grünfeld Defence was explained by Mihail Marin in CBM 126 (buy it now!); we reproduce here a shortened version of his article. Kamsky certainly hadn't had a look at Marin's analysis – you better do it!
Aronian-Kamsky with annotations
Mihail Marin on the variation 1.c4 g6 2.e4 e5 3.d4

Jermuk R6: four players lead after killer instinct day

8/16/2009 – Coming out of a free day two players, Aronian and Kasimdzhanov, showed gritty determination and took full points (the latter with black) to join the leaders Leko and Ivanchuk at the top of the table. Vassily Ivanchuk was in a tough position against US GM Gata Kamsky, but saved the day in an unusual ending in a unique way. Big illustrated round six report.

Zurich Jubilee 2009: Areshchenko and Avrukh victorious

8/16/2009 – It was bear hugs in the final round: GMs Alexander Areshchenko Boris Avrukh had the black pieces but squeezed the life out of top contenders GMs Yuriy Kuzubov (30 moves in a Meran) and Alexander Morozevich (55 moves in a QGA) to take equal first at this strong event. We bring you more picture portraits by Georg Kradolfer of interesting players and faces in our final report.

Jermuk Grand Prix: a rest from the chessboard battles

8/16/2009 – After five rounds of fairly tumultuous play – very few unfought draws – the players in the Fifth FIDE Grand Prix in Jermuk, Armenia had earned a well-deserved rest day and outing. This took them to a famous monastery which documents the origins of Christianity in Europe, and a wildlife sanctuary, where the more intrepid of them risked life and limb in a rock climbing adventure. Well, sort of...

England in the lead 18.5-16.5, Short rejuvenated

8/15/2009 – Nigel Short won another game, in round six of the Staunton Memorial, which put him on 5.5/7 with a 2842 performance that could take him above the 2700 mark on the next FIDE list. David Howell won a beautiful queen sacrifice game in round seven, while Viktor Korchnoi upset the course of events in the all play all group by beating the leader, Jan Timman, with the black pieces. Round 6-7 report.

Jermuk R5: five decisive games, Ivanchuk and Leko lead

8/14/2009 – What a day, what a round! Ivanchuk beat Cheparinov with the black pieces and joined Peter Leko in the lead; Kamsky scored his first win, defeating Inarkiev; Kasimdzhanov beat leader Aronian; Gelfand produced his first victory, against Akopian; and Karjakin took a full point, his first, against Bacrot. Full report with great photos by Arman Karakhanyan.

Zurich Jubilee 2009: twelve GMs in the lead

8/13/2009 – There's a veritable log jam at the top of the crosstable after six rounds of play – twelve players with 5.0/6 points, followed by nineteen in hot pursuit, with 4.5 points. On top of the table with the best tiebreak score is (who else?) Alexander Morozevich. Best female player so far is (who else?) Hou Yifan. The event is full of interesting players and faces.

Jermuk R4: Leko and Aronian win and lead

8/13/2009 – "The first to draw blood today was Peter Leko who celebrated the arrival of his wife Sophie in Jermuk by beating Sergey Karjakin," the official tournament bulletin tells us. Armenia's top GM Levon Aronian did it without the his Australian girlfriend turning up in Jermuk, to stay in the lead with Leko. Vassily Ivanchuk also won to join Cheparinov half a point behind the leaders. Round four report.

Short and Timman shine in Staunton Memorial

8/13/2009 – Older readers will remember that Nigel Short played Jan Timman in 1993 for the right to meet defending World Champion Garry Kasparov (Short won). Today Nigel is 44, and Jan 57. Thes are playing in the Scheveningen and round robin groups of the Staunton Memorial, and both are dominating. England and Holland are tied 12.5:12.5 in the team event. Rounds 1-5 report.

How young Ray made his first GM norm

8/13/2009 – The Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsø ended last Sunday, with four players sharing the top score of 7.0/9 points. One of them, a 14-year-old lad, stood to make a GM norm. But to do so Ray Robson had to hold the Swedish Champion GM Emanuel Berg to a draw in the final round, with the black pieces. To compound matters Berg was desperate to win. Pictorial report by Misha Savinov.

Zurich Jubilee 2009 Open under way – Pein on Giri

8/12/2009 – There are 45 GMs, 48 IMs in the Master Tournament, staged to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the world's oldest chess club. After three rounds 12 GMs had a perfect score, after four the number had dropped to two. One game in particular delighted IM Malcolm Pein of the London Chess Center, who sent us his thoughts on the moves of a 15-year-old grandmaster.

The brilliant ideas of a 14-year-old

8/12/2009 – American IM Ray Robson was one of the four winners of the recently finished Arctic Challenge in Norway. This was achieved by prodigious talent and some excellent preparation. In his Wednesday night Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos shows us the brilliant idea uncorked by Robson against Rasmussen, one that could alter our understanding of the system. Be there at 9 p.m. ET.

Jermuk R3: Alekseev beats Inarkiev, six draws

8/12/2009 – The fifth FIDE Grand Prix in Armenia has not yet moved into third gear. Today's round saw six draws in seven games: two in less than 30 moves, a 52-move exploration of the Queen's Gambit Declined and a 70-move struggle in a Queen's Indian. Evgeny Alekseev managed to bring the point home against Ernesto Inarkiev, without affecting the leaderboard. Illustrated report.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (25)

8/11/2009 – Without error there would be no chess, but that exalted thought will probably be of limited comfort to anyone who has just overlooked a quick mate. The Editor of Chess Notes catalogues a variety of lost opportunities, including the particularly unfortunate case of a player who, instead of giving mate in one with his queen, blundered the piece away.

Jermuk R2: Aronian and Jakovenko win

8/11/2009 – In the second round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Armenia local hero Levon Aronian scored a win over Russian GM Evgeny Alekseev, while Dmitry Jakovenko, who had lost his game in round one, defeated US GM Gata Kamsky. The other games were drawn. You can watch the event live on Playchess.com or the FIDE Grand Prix web site. Full illustrated report.

Guinness Simultaneous Chess World Record attempt – in Tehran!

8/10/2009 – The Swedish GM Ulf Andersson played 310 opponents in 1996, then Andrew Martin took on 321 in 2004. His record was broken in 2005 by Susan Polgar (350 opponents). Currently the record stands at 360, set earlier this year by Kiril Georgiev. Now the 29-year-old Iranian GM Morteza Mahjoob intends to get his name in the Guinness Book next Thursday by taking on 500 opponents.

David wins Open Greek Championship in Kavala

8/10/2009 – There are at least three great reasons to attend this event, says GM Dejan Bojkov, who reports for us from Greece. Luxembourger Alberto David won the A tournament on tiebreak points. It took place during the hottest part of the year in a beautiful location, with wonderful conditions for the player and great hospitality of the locals. Kavala is in a historically interesting. Big pictorial report.

Socko, Robson, Petrov and Berg win Arctic Challenge

8/10/2009 – This was the greatest performance of her career: Polish GM Monika Socko shared first place with 14-year-old IM Ray Robson of the US, Bulgarian IM Marijan Petrov and Sweden's top GM Emanuel Berg. But she took the title on tiebreak points and with a performance of 2639. We bring you a final report by IM Torstein Bae with a beautiful Robson game and pictures and videos from Tromsø.

FIDE Grand Prix in Jermuk has started

8/10/2009 – The fifth FIDE Grand Prix Series Tournament is being held from August 9 to 23, 2009, in the Armenian health resort of Jermuk and is dedicated to World Champion Tigran Petrosian, who would have turned eighty this year. You can watch the games on the excellent official web site or on Playchess.com. In the first round of the event Peter Leko and Ivan Cheparinov scored wins. Round one report.

A very hard nut to crack...

8/10/2009 – ... as well as a treat to annotate was the following highlight of last year's European Individual Championship, containing a great deal of combinatorial motifs - deflection, mate patterns, passed pawns, sub-promotion... In this position Black could have uncorked 31...Qc2, and after 32.Nf8+ Kg8 your judgement is required: A) White can throw in the towel. B) Black is not the only one to unpack study-like moves – the game ends in a draw by force. C) keeping his nerves, White also keeps the full point. In the game Black continued 1...exf1+ 32.Qxf1 Kxg6 and lost - why? The solution is here but first ponder it with a larger version of the diagram.

'No more coincidences' – interview with IM Aly Yasseen

8/9/2009 – Egyptian International Master Aly Yasseen is a well-known and prominent figure in the African and the Arab chess worlds. His chess achievements are many, among which include being a two-time Egyptian Champion. He now works as a technical director and coach in the Smouha Club Chess Academy (SCCA) in Alexandria, Egypt. He shares his views in this exclusive interview.