11/2/2010 – The 17th International Chess Festival “M. Chigorin Memorial” is taking place in St. Petersburg, Russia, from October 26 to November 5, 2010. The Rapid section is over, with six players at 7.0/9 points, the classical section is under way, with Ivan Sokolov leading at 5.0/5 points. The prize fund is 1.4 million Roubles = 32,000 Euros or US $46,000. Big pictorial report by WGM Irina Sudakova.

11/1/2010 – Fourteen federations of the European Chess Union have lodged a protest at the appointment by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov of five Vice Presidents, all of whom are political allies or supporters, without the required confirmation of the General Assembly. The letter was forwarded by ECU President Silvio Danialov to FIDE, with a reply requested by close of business on Monday.

11/1/2010 – The 2010 World Youth Chess Championship took place at Porto Carras, Greece, and once more crowned new champions, bringing to the fore names to be remembered. Among the most remarkable were American Steven Zierk, rated 26th at 2391, yet taking the gold with a 2723 performance, and Azerbaijani Kanan Azar Izzat, 35th, and also gold. See the photos of these future stars in the final report.

11/1/2010 – The rivalry between the two Ks is the stuff of legends. In Kasparov vs Karpov 1988-2009, an absorbing new book by Garry Kasparov, the centerpiece is his last world championship match against Karpov in 1990. The highlight was the 16th game with 102 moves, the longest win in world championship history. It contained a very special manoeuvre, which GM Lubos Kavalek describes in his chess column.

11/1/2010 – Truly exquisite play occurred in a little-known game won by Capablanca, at breakneck speed, in a simultaneous exhibition (St Petersburg, 1913). The Editor of Chess Notes presents some text-book discussion and cooperation on the subject among his readers. The pawn ending, involving the complexities of the distant opposition, gives rise to a number of highly instructive manoeuvres.

11/1/2010 – Magnus Carlsen, who has topped the world chess rankings since January 2010, lost a whopping 24 points in the last two-month period. But it is a tribute to the young Norwegian that he could take this and only slip to second place, two points behind World Champion Vishy Anand, who is back on top. Aronian has climbed to number three with a 2800+ rating. November 2010 FIDE rankings.

10/31/2010 – This double round robin tournament in Holland was won convincingly by the second youngest player in the field, top French GM Maxime Vachier Lagrave, who turned twenty a day before the start of the event. Maxime, rated 2721, lost no games, beat top seed Shirov once and Tiviakov twice, finishing a point ahead of the field and gaining 12 rating points. Happy birthday, Max!

10/31/2010 – Black equalises in the Caro-Kann against 3.Nc3; at the moment, only 3.e5 gives White some hope of an opening advantage. Things are as clear-cut as that according to Leonid Kritz. In any case, the German grandmaster also delivers his contribution to proving this statement, at least as far as the second part on the Advance Variation is concerned. In the critical line after 3...Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 he shows how White achieves a slight advantage both against 6...Qb6 and also 6...cxd4. The Olympiad game Karjakin-Eljanov confirms Kritz' analysis. You will find another 11 articles on the DVD of CBM 138. Read: Kritz' complete article

10/30/2010 – What is with him and China? Magnus Carlsen has again won the Nanjing Super-GM, a full point ahead of Vishy Anand, who grabbed a final point back from French GM Etienne Bacrot. Meanwhile Veselin Topalov tricked Wang Yue and converted a lost position into a win. Magnus picked up 80,000 Euros – and enough Elo points to entrench him at the top of the world rankings. Final report.

10/29/2010 – ... White had invited the black king with his last move 12.Qf3, the obvious intention after 12...Bxe5 being 13.Qxc6+ followed by 14.Rxe5. Considering the underdevelopment of both sides, what do you think should be the result of this operation?
A) advantage for Black
B) advantage for White
C) equality
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

10/29/2010 – It was the usual story: Magnus Carlsen kept putting intense pressure on the opponent, turning the screws, until suddenly he cracked. Unusual was that it was the former world number one, Veselin Topalov who buckled. The other games were drawn. Carlsen is now 1½ points ahead of the field and the winner of the event. Illustrated report with analysis by GM Romain Edouard.

10/29/2010 – "I gave it full marks, five out of five," writes reviewer GM Hedinn Steingrimsson about his colleague's new DVD. Jan Gustafsson is a leading expert on the Marshall Attack, especially in the attacking lines where Black plays uncompromisingly for a win. "This might very well be the best opening DVD that ChessBase has produced," says Steingrimsson. Review with video samples.