5/5/2009 – This event has been held since 1979 and used to be played in Asia. In the 1990s it was staged three times in the UAE, and in 2000 it arrived on Lebanese soil. This year Twenty teams competed in the nine-round Swiss tournament with four boards per team. The winner was Tehran, Iran, ahead of Bangalore, India and Damascus, Syria. Big illustrated report by Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh.

5/4/2009 – "I couldn't believe my eyes when I read GM John Nunn's opinion," writes GM Bartlomiej Macieja (pronunciation supplied), the original initiator of this debate. He presents proof for the fact, challenged by Nunn, that the K-factor and the frequency of rating lists are related to one another. Other readers have also weighed in, a wrap-up reply by John Nunn will appear soon. Long, interesting read.

5/4/2009 – Shocking news: a gunman stormed the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy, a public university located in Baku, and shot 25, killing twelve, before turning the weapon upon himself. One of the victims of the massacre was leading Azeri chess problemist Mejnun Vahidov, who had worked at the Academy for over 30 years. His 200 published problems include many prize-winners. Horrifying reports.

5/3/2009 – The yearly Chess Classic in Mainz, Germany, will be held from July 27th to Sunday, August 2nd 2009, with World Champion Vishy Anand defending his Rapid Chess title against Levon Aronian, Arkadij Naiditsch and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Anand has won the main event eleven times – and feels the pressure every time he plays. Read all about this and his recent chess life in this indepth interview.

5/3/2009 – FIDE decided to speed up the change in their ratings calculations, then turned more cautious about it. Polish GM Bartlomiej Macieja criticised them for balking, and Jeff Sonas provided compelling statistical reasons for changing the K-factor to 24. Finally John Nunn warned of the disadvantages of changed a well-functioning system. Here are some more interesting expert arguments.

5/3/2009 – At six foot nine inches Miroslav Filip was an imposing presence at the chess board. But he became a world force in the 50s and 60s, represented his country in 12 consecutive Chess Olympiads and inflicted defeat on no fewer than three world champions (Euwe, Smyslov and Tal). Filip was born in Prague on October 27, 1928, and died there on April 27, 2009. Obituary by Raymond Keene.

5/1/2009 – Lasker’s house in Germany, Capablanca’s bungalow in Cuba and Alekhine’s château in France are among the properties on view in the latest article by the Editor of Chess Notes. Over the years he has been building up an address book of many of the old masters’ residences. Find out whether any prominent chess figures of the past lived near you.

4/30/2009 – "If I knew that Garry Kasparov had already made a DVD on the Grünfeld Defence for ChessBase I would never have dared to make one myself," confesses Alexei Shirov. Needless to say, Shirov is an expert here too, and with his games from the end of the 90s up to 2007 you can relive the development of this opening over the last ten years. Buy his Grünfeld DVD or read Bob Long's review.

4/30/2009 – "Using the FIDE Laws of Chess terminology, the move has been made, and no takeback is any longer possible." Polish GM Bartlomiej Macieja is insisting that the decision to increase the K-factor in rating calculations is not just necessary and good in the current tournament situation, it is in fact irrevocable and can only be legally changed by the body that passed it. Open letter.

4/30/2009 – Mark Donlan has examined ChessBase Magazine 129 for ChessCafe.com. The American has called his article "Incredible Abundance". He points out as an example of the abundance of contents of  ChessBase Magazine that it contains, e.g. introductory videos in Fritztrainer format by Karsten Müller and Dorian Rogozenco, and then columns by Daniel King, Peter Wells, Karsten Müller, Oliver Reeh and Rainer Knaak and much, much more. Buy CBM 129 or read this review

4/30/2009 – With the debate raging over FIDE's decision to change or not to change the K-factor used in calculating players' ratings, we are glad to receive an important message from our voice-of-reason grandmaster. Dr John Nunn says "there seems no real evidence that K=20 will result in a more accurate rating system, while there are a number of risks and disadvantages." His explanation and reader feedback.

4/30/2009 – We return to this Championship, which had 14 participants and was won, for the third time, by WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan, who scored 11/13 points. Bronze went to eleven-year-old WFM Sara Sadat Khademalsharieh. For those of you who have had enough flawless 2800 play for a while, here's a big pictorial report by Reza Mahdipour with highly enjoyable chess highlights from the event. Don't miss it!