8/31/2018 – Halftime and a rest day at the Russian Championships, after six of eleven rounds. In the open tournament, six players are in the lead each with 3½ out of 6 points, but the Elo favourites are not among them. Even in the women's tournament, the nominal favorites have had a hard time. Olga Girya and Alina Kashlinskaya lead with 4 out of 6, while Alexandra Kosteniuk (pictured) has scored just 3 out of 6 or fifty percent. JULIAN WNUK breaks down the action so far. | Photo: Russian Chess Federation

5/22/2018 – The ninth and final round of the Polish championship in Warsaw was played on Sunday. A draw was enough for Jan-Krzysztof Duda against Mateusz Bartel, as Duda's only remaining pursuer, Kacper Piorun, lost to Aleksander Mista. Duda's final score was 6½ / 9 points; Piorun finished second at 5½ / 9. The women's championship had to be decided in a tiebreak between Jolanta Zawadzka and Anna Warakomska with Zawadzka ultimately coming out on top. | Photo: Piotr Jedrzejewski, mp2018.pzszach.pl

5/16/2018 – In Warsaw, the Polish Championships have started with a pair of round-robin tournaments with ten participants, for men and women from May 12-21. The all-GM open tournament (which has only men) includes two players over 2700 Elo and an Elo average of 2630. After four rounds, defending champion Kacper Piorun (pictured) leads with 3½ / 4. In the Women's Championship, 2295-rated Anna Warakomska is currently in clear first. | Photo: mp2018.pzszach.pl