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The Chess Classic Mainz 2010 took place in Germany 6th-8th August.
GRENKE Rapid World Championship: 1. Kamsky, Gata - 10/11; 2-4. Gashimov, Vugar; Aronian, Levon; Bareev, Evgeni - 9.5.
Site: http://www.chesstigers.de/

The Biel Chess Festival 2010 took place in Switzerland 17th-30th July.
Tie-break. Final: Fabiano Caruana - Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son 1.5-0.5. Semifinal: Fabiano Caruana - Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2-1.
1-3. Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son; Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime; Caruana, Fabiano - 5.5; 4. Andreikin, Dmitry - 5; 5-7. So, Wesley; Tomashevsky, Evgeny; Rodshtein, Maxim - 4.5; 8. Giri, Anish - 4; 9. Howell, David - 3.5; 10. Negi, Parimarjan - 2.5.
MT Open: 1-7. Riazantsev,Alexander; Kosintseva,Nadezhda; Kritz,Leonid; Feller,Sebastien; Bauer,Christian; Golod,Vitali; Maze,Sebastien - 8/11.
Site: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch/

The Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2010 took place in Dortmund (Germany) 15th - 25th July.
1. Ruslan Ponomariov - 6.5/10; 2. Quang Liem Le - 5.5; 3-4 Vladimir Kramnik, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - 5; 5-6. Arkadij Naiditsch, Peter Leko - 4.
Site: http://www.sparkassen-chess-meeting.de

The Kings tournament 2010 took place in Medias (Romania) June 14th-25th.
1. Magnus Carlsen - 7.5/10; 2-3. Teimour Radjabov, Boris Gelfand - 5.5; 4. Ruslan Ponomariov - 4.5; 5. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu - 4; 6. Wang Yue - 3.
R7: Carlsen-Radjabov 1-0. Magnus outplayed the rival in the endgame.
R6: Ponomariov-Carlsen 0-1. Ruslan obtained a clear edge in the King's Indian Saemisch and could win with 23.Kh1.
R5: Nisipeanu-Carlsen 0-1. Magnus attacked with 26...Bf8.
Site: http://www.turneulregilor.com/

The US Championship 2010 took place in Saint Louis 13th-25th May.
1. Gata Kamsky, 2. Yury Shulman, 3-4. Hikaru Nakamura, Alex Onischuk.
Site: http://saintlouischessclub.org/

The World Chess Championship 2010 match World Champion Viswanathan Anand vs Veselin Topalov took place in Sofia (Bulgaria) 24th April - 12th May. Anand vs Topalov 6.5-5.5. Viswanathan Anand is the World Chess Champion again.
Game 12: Topalov-Anand 0-1. Queen's Gambit. White had a slight advantage. Then Vishy levelled the game. Veselin made errors 31.exf5, 32.fxe4. Vishy stormed on the kingside and won, he had a strong bishop (an elephant in Russian).

Game 11: Anand-Topalov 1/2. English. A theoretical duel. 12.Nc5 is a novelty. After 26.Rbc2 White obtained a small edge thanks to the pressure on the c-file and two bishops. Veselin levelled with 31...Rc6 and after 49.Rd2 grabbed a pawn.
Game 10: Topalov-Anand 1/2. Gruenfeld. 15.d5 is a novelty, with equality.
Game 9: Anand-Topalov 1/2. Nimzo-Indian. White had an isolated pawn on d4, then Black took on c3. 18.Nh3 is a novelty. Veselin counterattacked in the centre with 18...e5. Two white rooks vs a dark queen. In the endgame Vishy gained an advantage with 46.h5 and could win with 62.Rdd7.
Game 8: Topalov-Anand 1-0. The same Slav Defence as in game 3 and 5. Vishy chose a new move for the match, 13...Rc8. White had a small edge in the ending (opening). Veselin tried 18.a5, a novelty. In a drawish bishop endgame Vishy made a mistake 54...Bc6 and quickly lost.
Game 7: Anand-Topalov 1/2. Veselin sacrificed the exchange with 11...Bd7, a novelty. Probably this was a big home preparation. After 18...Qxd5 Black had two pawns for a knight. The endgame was drawish.
Game 6: Anand-Topalov 1/2. Catalan. Vishy chose a new move, 10.Bg5, after 10...h6 11.Bxf6 Veselin played 11...Qxf6, a novelty. With equality after 17...Qe4.
Game 5: Topalov-Anand 1/2. The same Slav Defense as in game 3. Vishy made a new move, 15...h5, with a slight advantage to White. Vishy levelled the game with the best 22...f6.
Game 4: Anand-Topalov 1-0. Catalan. Vishy seized the center and got a small edge thanks to the novelty 10.Na3. Then he attacked with the strong 15.d5. White was better. Vishy beautifully sacrificed a knight 23.Nxh6+, attacked on the kingside and won.
Game 3: Topalov-Anand 1/2. Slav. Veselin had only a small advantage in the opening. The position after 22...Rc7 was equal.
Game 2: Anand-Topalov 1-0. Catalan. Black had an extra pawn, White had pressure on the queenside. Vishy obtained an edge in the endgame and pushed the b-pawn.
Game 1: Topalov-Anand 1-0. Gruenfeld. Vishy made a mistake 23...Kf7, and Veselin attacked with the strong knight sacrifice 24.Nxf6. 23...Bd7 is correct.

Site: http://www.anand-topalov.com/

The Russian Team Chess Championships 2010 took place in Sochi 1st-10th April.
1. ShSM-64 - 16, 2. SPb Chess Fed - 14, 3. Economist-SGSEU-1 - 12.
Ivanchuk, Vitiugov, Grischuk, Tomashevsky, Moiseenko, Khenkin; Muzychuk, Paehtz, Gunina, Zhukova.
Site: http://www.russiachess.org/results/2010/pl/index.html and http://russiachess.org/online

The Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament 2010 took place in Nice (France) March 12th-25th.
1-2. Vassily Ivanchuk, Magnus Carlsen - 14.5; 3. Vladimir Kramnik - 13; 4. Alexander Grischuk - 12.5; 5. Sergey Karjakin - 12; 6-8. Vugar Gashimov, Boris Gelfand, Peter Svidler - 11.5; 9. Levon Aronian - 11; 10. Ruslan Ponomariov - 9; 11. Jan Smeets - 6; 12. Leinier Dominguez - 5.
Ivanchuk crushed Carlsen 2-0 in round 1.
Site: http://www.amberchess2010.com/

The European Individual Championships 2010 took place in Rijeka (Croatia) 6th-18th March.
1. Ian Nepomniachtchi - 9/11; 2-3. Baadur Jobava, Artyom Timofeev - 8.5.
Etienne Bacrot, Zoltan Almasi, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Sergei Movsesian, David Navara, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Evgeny Alekseev, Alexander Motylev, Michael Adams, Arkadij Naiditsch.
Women: 1. Pia Cramling - 9; 2. Viktorija Cmilyte - 8.5.
Site: http://www.eurorijeka2010.com/

The Linares 2010 tournament took place in Spain 12th-25th February.
1. Veselin Topalov - 6.5, 2. Alexander Grischuk - 6, 3. Levon Aronian - 5.5, 4-6. Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand, Vugar Gashimov - 4.
Site: http://www.ajedrez.ciudaddelinares.es/

The Corus Chess Tournaments 2010 took place in Wijk aan Zee (The Netherlands) January 15th-31st.
Corus A: 1. Magnus Carlsen - 8.5; 2-3. Vladimir Kramnik, Alexei Shirov - 8; 4-5. Viswanathan Anand, Hikaru Nakamura - 7.5; 6-7. Sergey Karjakin, Vassily Ivanchuk - 7; 8-9. Peter Leko, Leinier Dominguez - 6.5; 10. Fabiano Caruana - 5.5; 11-12. Nigel Short, Loek van Wely - 5; 13-14 Sergey Tiviakov, Jan Smeets - 4.5.
Corus B: Nisipeanu beat Nyback in classic style in the Bogo-Indian, round 1.
Site: http://www.coruschess.com/

The Gibtelecom Chess Festival 2010 took place 26 January - 4 February in Gibraltar.
Final playoff: Michael Adams - Francisco Vallejo Pons 1.5-0.5.
Semifinal playoff: Adams - Jan Gustafsson 2-1; Francisco Vallejo Pons - Chanda Sandipan 1.5-0.5.
Site: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/gib2010/index.html

The World Team Championship 2010 took place in Bursa (Turkey) 4th-14th January. Russia wins.
1. Russia - 15, 2. USA - 13 (21.5), 3. India - 13 (21), 4. Azerbaijan - 12 (22), 5. Armenia - 12 (20.5), 6. Greece - 8, 7. Israel - 7, 8. Brazil - 4, 9. Egypt - 3 (12), 10. Turkey - 3 (11.5).
Israel-Russia 1-3 (Vitiugov sacrificed a rook, then a queen! Fantastic!), USA-Azerbaijan 2-2, Brazil-India 0.5-3.5.
Russia-Egypt 3.5-0.5, India-Israel 2.5-1.5, Azerbaijan-Greece 3-1, Armenia-USA 2.5-1.5.
Russia-Armenia 2-2, Israel-Turkey 1.5-2.5, Greece-USA 1.5-2.5
India-Russia 1.5-2.5, Azerbaijan-Israel 2-2, Armenia-Greece 1-3.
Russia-Turkey 3.5-0.5, Israel- USA 1.5-2.5, India-Armenia 2-2.
Azerbaijan-Russia 1.5-2.5 (Grischuk had a very active king), Armenia-Brazil 2.5-1.5
Russia-USA 3-1 (Nakamura easily made a draw in the Dutch), India-Azerbaijan 2.5-1.5
Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Grischuk, Levon Aronian, Vugar Gashimov, Boris Gelfand, Teimour Radjabov, Dmitry Jakovenko, Hikaru Nakamura, Nikita Vitiugov, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Vladimir Malakhov, Pentala Harikrishna.
Site: http://wtcc2009.tsf.org.tr/

The World Cup 2009 took place in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia) 20th November - 15th December. Boris Gelfand wins the World Cup 2009.
Final: Ponomariov-Gelfand 2-2; Tiebreak 2-2; 1-3. Boris won blitz 3-1. In tiebreak game 3 Ruslan grabbed a pawn, could win with 51.Rh7+, but he won game 4 thanks to strong pawns. G2 Ruslan preferred the Bogo-Indian or the Catalan with the Dutch Stonewall structure after 12...f5.G1 Perpetual check.

Semifinal: Karjakin-Gelfand 0-2. G2 Boris attacked. G1 Boris obtained a small edge, with pressure on the kingside. Sergey made errors, and Boris attacked, won 3 pawns.
Ponomariov-Malakhov 1-1; 3-1. G2 Ruslan sacrificed a pawn, unclear.
R5: Gelfand-Jakovenko 1-1; 2.5-0.5. G2 Boris preferred the aggressive 8...g5. A quick draw.
Ponomariov-Gashimov 1-1; 2.5-0.5. G2 Vugar had a slightly better position. G1 Ruslan got an edge after the bad 27...b2, then 29.f3 was better.
Svidler-Malakhov 0.5-1.5. G2 Vladimir gained a small advantage. G1 Vladimir got counterplay in the centre, Peter made a mistake, 22.f5. The extra black pawn on d3 gave a clear advantage. Vladimir stormed with 31...dxe1N+.
Karjakin-Mamedyarov 1.5-0.5. G2 Equality, but Sergey made mistakes, 28...Ne6 and 29...Rxe6, Shakhriyar could win with 30.Nxd5, but he grabbed a pawn on the next move, draw. G1 Sergey obtained a small edge thanks to two bishops and rook pressure. In the drawish endgame Shakhriyar made a mistake, 48...Kd8, and Sergey could win with 49.f3, but he found 50.f4!
R4: Ponomariov-Bacrot 1-1; 2.5-1.5. In the knight endgame after 64...Nd5? Ponomariov could win with 82.Kg7, Fritz 12. Malakhov-So 1-1; 3-0. Gashimov-Caruana 1-1; 2.5-0.5.
Shirov-Svidler 0.5-1.5. Shirov played with fire, the risky 22.Qd4, Svidler defended precisely. Vitiugov-Karjakin 0.5-1.5 In game 2 better was 31.Qb2. Laznicka-Mamedyarov 0.5-1.5.
R3: Polgar-Gelfand 1-1; 0.5-2.5. In game 2 Judit attacked with sacrifices! Navara-Karjakin 1-1; 0-3. In game 1 Navara grabbed pawns. In game 2 Karjakin pushed pawns on the queenside with success. Kamsky-So 0.5-1.5 So easily gained a small advantage with 14...Ba6. A sharp fight in the Dutch 1.c4 f5 2.d4 Nf6, game 2. Sakaev-Vitiugov 0.5-1.5.
R2: Tomashevsky-Khalifman 3.5-2.5 Tomashevsky could win in the King's Indian Saemisch System in game 6 with 37.Nc7. Nyback-Svidler 1-1; 0.5-2.5. Svidler strikes back! Ivanchuk-So 0.5-1.5. In game 1 Ivanchuk could make a draw by perpetual check, in game 2 he made a draw. Morozevich-Laznicka 0-2. Sakaev-Radjabov 1.5-0.5. Radjabov obtained a small edge in the KID, but lost after 32...b5?
R1: Laylo quickly wins vs Navara 1-1. Ivanchuk-Bezgodov 2-0.
A strong attack in the Dutch, Akobian-Tregubov 1-0, 1.d4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5. Ponomariov-El Gindy 1/2 in the Bogo-Indian.
Site: http://cup2009.fide.com/results.php, http://cup2009.fide.com/round.php

The Russian Championship 2009 took place in Moscow 20th-30th December.
1. Grischuk - 6.5, 2. Svidler - 6, 3. Vitiugov - 5, 4-5. Alekseev, Jakovenko - 4.5, 6-8. Khismatullin, Tomashevsky, Riazantsev - 4, 9. Timofeev - 3.5, 10. Sjugirov - 3.
Site: http://tal.russiachess.org/online/2009/08/index.htm

The London Chess Classic 2009 took place in England 7th-16th December.
1. Magnus Carlsen - 13; 2. Vladimir Kramnik - 12; 3-4. David Howell, Michael Adams - 9; 5. Luke McShane - 7; 6-7. Ni Hua, Hikaru Nakamura - 6; 8. Nigel Short - 5.
Site: http://www.londonchessclassic.com/

The Tal Memorial 2009 took place in Moscow (Russia) November 4th-18th.
1. Vladimir Kramnik - 6; 2-3. Vassily Ivanchuk, Magnus Carlsen - 5.5; 4-5. Levon Aronian, Viswanathan Anand - 5; 6. Boris Gelfand - 4.5; 7. Ruslan Ponomariov - 4; 8. Peter Svidler - 3.5; 9-10. Peter Leko, Alexander Morozevich - 3.
In round 6 Morozevich made a mistake 13.h4? in the Modern Benoni against Ivanchuk. 12.0-0 and 13.0-0 are better.
The World Blitz Championship 2009 (16-18): 1. Magnus Carlsen - 31/42, 2. Viswanathan Anand - 28, 3. Sergey Karjakin - 25.
Site: http://tal.russiachess.org/results/2009/blitz/, http://tal.russiachess.org/games/2009/tal2009.pgn

The European Team Championship 2009 took place in Novi Sad (Serbia) October 21st-31st.
1. Azerbaijan - 15; 2. Russia - 14; 3. Ukraine - 13 (23); 4. Armenia - 13 (21.5); 5. Germany - 12 (21.5); 6. Spain - 12 (21); 7. Poland - 12 (20.5).
R9: Russia-Spain 2-2, Netherlands-Azerbaijan 1.5-2.5, Israel-Ukraine 1-3, Switzerland-Armenia 1.5-2.5.
R8: Armenia-Russia 1.5-2.5, Poland-Azerbaijan 1-3, Ukraine-Netherlands 2-2.
R7: Azerbaijan-Armenia 1.5-2.5, Russia-Georgia 2.5-1.5, Hungary-Israel 2-2.
R6: Azerbaijan-Russia 2-2, Ukraine-Georgia 2-2, Armenia-Spain 3-1.
R5: Georgia-Azerbaijan 1.5-2.5, Israel-Russia 1-3.
R4: Russia-Netherlands 2-2, England-France 1-3.
R3: Azerbaijan-Germany 2.5-1.5, Italy-Russia 1-3.
R2: Netherlands-Italy 2-2 (Smeets-Caruana 0-1, L'Ami-D'amore 1-0), Russia-Macedonia 3.5-0.5.
R1: Croatia-Russia 2-2, Switzerland-Ukraine 2.5-1.5 (Korchnoi-Volokitin 1/2, Dutch 1.d4 f5 2.Qd3).
Women. 1. Russia - 16 (26); 2. Georgia - 16 (24); 3. Ukraine - 12 (188); 4. Azerbaijan - 12 (183).
Site: http://www.eurons2009.com/eng.htm, http://www.chess-results.com/

The Unive Chess Tournament 2009 took place in Hoogeveen (The Netherlands) October 16th-24th.
Crown: 1. Tiviakov, Sergei - 3.5; 2-3. Giri, Anish; Ivanchuk, Vassily - 3; 4. Polgar, Judit - 2.5.
Open: 1. Haslinger, Stewart - 7.5; 2-5. Brodsky, Michail; Nijboer, Friso; Ulibin, Mikhail; Caspi, Israel - 6.5.
Site: http://www.univechess.nl/

The Daily Telegraph. Andrei Arshavin, the darling of Arsenal, the Premier Leagues latest global icon and five-star character: "I played chess when I was seven or eight and that taught me to think logically. I can read the game. I can see the spot where I should be before the ball comes there".
Site: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/

The Nanjing Pearl Spring 2009 Chess Tournament took place in Nanjing (China) 27th September - 9th October.
1. Magnus Carlsen - 8/10; 2. Veselin Topalov - 5.5; 3. Wang Yue - 4.5; 4-6. Teimour Radjabov, Peter Leko, Dmitry Jakovenko - 4.
Site: http://www.chess-pearlspring.com/www/chess_pk/2009/en/

The match Karpov - Kasparov 2009 took place in Valencia (Spain) September 21st-24th.
4 Rapid and 8 Blitz Games.
Rapid: Karpov - Kasparov 1-3.
G1 Karpov - Kasparov 0-1 Garry easily levelled in the Gruenfeld.
G2 Kasparov - Karpov 1-0 Queen's Gambit. Garry attacked with the knight sacrifice 22.Nf6+!
G3 Karpov - Kasparov 1-0 Again the Gruenfeld 3.g3, but here Anatoly gained a small advantage with 10.Nec3 and 13.Be3, then Garry sacrificed the exchange and could make a draw with 26...Re8!
G4 Kasparov - Karpov 1-0 Queen's Gambit. Garry obtained a clear edge in the endgame.
Blitz: Kasparov - Karpov 6-2.

Site: http://www.matchkarpovkasparov.com/, http://www.playchess.com/

The Russian Championship 2009 Big League took place in Ulan-Ude (Siberia) September 2-13. 5 players must qualify for the super-final.
1. Tomashevsky, Evgeny - 8/11; 2-4. Riazantsev, Alexander; Khismatullin, Denis; Vitiugov, Nikita - 7.5; 5-9. Timofeev, Artyom; Landa, Konstantin; Lastin, Alexander; Zvjaginsev, Vadim; Sjugirov, Sanan - 7.

The FIDE Grand Prix 2009 tournament took place in Jermuk (Armenia) 8th-24th August.
1. Ivanchuk Vassily - 8.5; 2-3. Aronian Levon, Gelfand Boris - 8; 4-6. Alekseev Evgeny, Kasimdzhanov Rustam, Leko Peter - 7.5; Karjakin Sergey - 7; 8. Eljanov Pavel - 6.5; 9-10. Kamsky Gata, Bacrot Etienne - 6; 11-12. Akopian Vladimir, Jakovenko Dmitry - 5; 13. Inarkiev Ernesto - 4.5; 14. Cheparinov Ivan - 4.
Site: http://jermuk2009.fide.com/

The Zuerich Chess Club 200th Jubilee 1809-2009 took place in Switzerland 22-23 August.
Amateurs against champions: Viswanathan Anand, Viktor Korchnoi, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Spassky, Ruslan Ponomariov and Veselin Topalov.
Rapid: 1. Vladimir Kramnik - 5; 2. Viswanathan Anand - 4.5; 3-4. Veselin Topalov, Ruslan Ponomariov - 4; 5. Alexander Khalifman - 3; 6-8. Judit Polgar, Werner Hug, Anatoly Karpov - 2.5.
Site: http://www.sgzurich2009.ch/

The Staunton Memorial 2009 took place in London (England) 7th-17th August. Korchnoi, Timman, Wiersma, Davies.
1. Timman, Jan - 7/9; 2. Cherniaev, Alexander - 6.5; 3. Korchnoi, Viktor - 6.
Site: http://howardstaunton.com/index.shtm

The Chess Classic Mainz 2009 took place in Germany 27th July - 2nd August.
GRENKELEASING Rapid World Championship: Viswanathan Anand, Levon Aronian, Arkadij Naiditsch, Ian Nepomniachtchi. Final: Levon Aronian - Ian Nepomniachtchi 3-1. 1. Aronian 4.5/6, 2. Nepomniachtchi 3.5, 3. Anand 2.5, 4. Naiditsch 1.5.
FiNet Open: 1. Alexander Grischuk - 9.5/11; 2-3. Gata Kamsky; Rustam Kasimdzhanov - 9.
ORDIX Open: 1. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - 10/11; 2-4. Naiditsch, Arkadij; Akopian, Vladimir; Gashimov, Vugar - 9.5.
Chess960 World Championship: Final: Levon Aronian-Hikaru Nakamura 0.5-3.5; 1-2.Aronian, Nakamura 4/6.
Site: http://www.chesstigers.de/

The Biel International 2009 Chess Festival took place in Switzerland 18th-31st July.
1. Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime - 6/10; 2-3. Morozevich, Alexander; Ivanchuk, Vassily - 5.5; 4. Alekseev, Evgeny - 5; 5-6. Gelfand, Boris; Caruana, Fabiano - 4; 6.
Site: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch/

The Dortmund Chess Meeting 2009 took place in Germany 2nd-12th July.
1. Vladimir Kramnik 6.5/10; 2-4. Peter Leko; Magnus Carlsen; Dmitry Jakovenko - 5.5; 5. Etienne Bacrot - 4; 6. Arkadij Naiditsch - 3.
Site: http://www.chess-international.de/

The Donostia Chess Festival 2009 took place in Spain 7th-16th July. Blitz tiebreak: Hikaru Nakamura - Ruslan Ponomariov 2-0.
1-2. Ponomariov, Ruslan; Nakamura, Hikaru - 6.5; 3. Svidler, Peter - 5.5; 4-5. Kasimdzhanov, Rustam; Vallejo Pons, Francisco - 5; 6-7. Movsesian, Sergei; Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime - 4.5; 8. Granda Zuniga, Julio - 3.5; 9. San Segundo Carrillo, Pablo - 2.5; 10. Karpov, Anatoly - 1.5. Site: http://www.donostiachess.com/en/

The World Open 2009 Chess Tournament took place in Philadelphia (USA) June 29th - July 5th. 1-2.Evgeny Najer, Hikaru Nakamura - 7/9; 3-7. Gata Kamsky; Ilya Smirin; Jiri Stocek; Varuzhan Akobian; Leonid Yudasin - 6.5.
Site: http://www.worldopen.com/

The match World Champion Viswanathan Anand - Peter Leko took place in Miskolc (Hungary) June 2-7, 2009.
Peter Leko - Viswanathan Anand 3 - 5.
Site: http://www.lekoanand.hu/eng/

The US Chess Championship 2009 took place in Saint Louis, United States, May 7th-17th.
1. Nakamura, Hikaru - 7; 2-3. Hess, Robert; Onischuk, Alexander - 6.5; 4-5. Kamsky, Gata; Akobian, Varuzhan - 6.
Site: http://www.saintlouischessclub.org/US-Championship-2009

The FIDE Grand Prix Series Tournament 2009 took place in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria (Russia) 14th-29th April.
1. Aronian, Levon - 8.5; 2-3. Leko, Peter; Akopian, Vladimir - 7.5; 4-5. Grischuk, Alexander; Bacrot, Etienne - 7; 6-7. Alekseev, Evgeny; Gelfand, Boris - 6.5; 8-11. Kamsky, Gata; Karjakin, Sergey; Svidler, Peter; Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - 6; 12-14. Ivanchuk, Vassily; Kasimdzhanov, Rustam; Eljanov, Pavel - 5.5.
Site: http://www.nalchik2009.fide.com/

The European Individual Championship 2009 took place in Budva (Montenegro) 6th-18th March.
1. Tomashevsky Evgeny 2. Malakhov Vladimir 3. Jobava Baadur 4. Inarkiev Ernesto; 5-8. Sokolov Ivan, Naiditsch Arkadij, Navara David, Guseinov Gadir; 9-11. Grachev Boris, Kobalia Mikhail, Nyback Tomi.
Final: Tomashevsky-Malakhov 2-1.
1-11. Tomashevsky, Navara, Sokolov, Naiditsch, Inarkiev, Grachev, Malakhov, Kobalia, Guseinov, Jobava, Nyback 8/11.
Site: http://www.eurobudva2009.com/ and http://www.chess-results.com/tnr18224

The Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament 2009 took place in Nice (France) 14th-26th March.
1. Levon Aronian (Armenia) - 14/22; 2-3. Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), Viswanathan Anand (India) - 13.5; 4. Magnus Carlsen (Norway) - 13; 5. Alexander Morozevich (Russia) - 11; 6-7. Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine) - 10.5; 8-9. Gata Kamsky (United States), Peter Leko (Hungary) - 10; 10. Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) - 9.5; 11. Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) - 9; 12. Wang Yue (China) - 7.5.
Site: http://www.amberchess2009.com/

The Linares 2009 took place in Spain February 18th - 7th March.
1-2. Alexander Grischuk, Vassily Ivanchuk - 8; 3. Magnus Carlsen - 7.5; 4. Viswanathan Anand - 7; 5-7. Wang Yue, Teimour Radjabov, Levon Aronian - 6.5; 8. Lenier Dominguez - 6.
Site: http://www.marca.com/mas_deportes/ajedrez.html

The match 2009 Veselin Topalov vs Gata Kamsky, FIDE World Championship Qualifier, took place in Sofia (Bulgaria) February 17th-27th. Topalov-Kamsky 4.5-2.5. Topalov will play against World Champion Anand.
Site: http://www.wccc2009.com/ and http://www.chessbase.com/

The Corus Chess Tournaments 2009 took place in Wijk aan Zee (The Netherlands) January 16th - February 1st.
Corus A: 1. Karjakin - 8/13; 2-4.Aronian, Radjabov, Movsesian - 7.5. Corus B: 1. Caruana - 8.5. Corus C: 1. So - 9.5.
Site: http://www.coruschess.com/

The 38th Chess Olympiad 2008 took place in Dresden (Germany) 12th-25th November. 1. Armenia - 19, 2. Israel - 18, 3. USA - 17 (362), 4. Ukraine - 17 (348.5), 5-10. Russia, Azerbaijan, China, Hungary, Vietnam, Spain, Georgia - 16.
Women: 1. Georgia, 2. Ukraine, 3. USA, 4. Russia, 5. Poland.
R11: China-Armenia 1.5-2.5; USA-Ukraine 3.5-0.5; Israel-Netherlands 2.5-1.5; Russia-Spain 2-2; France-Azerbaijan 1.5-2.5.
R10: Ukraine-Israel 2.5-1.5; Germany 1-USA 1.5-2.5; Serbia-Armenia 1-3; England-China 1.5-2.5; Slovenia-Russia 0.5-3.5.
R9: Armenia-Israel 1.5-2.5; Russia-Ukraine 1.5-2.5; Poland-Germany 1 2-2.
R8: France-Armenia 0.5-3.5; Israel-Germany 1 2.5-1.5; USA-Russia 1.5-2.5.
R7: Armenia-Russia 2.5-1.5; China-Ukraine 2-2; Germany 1-Roumania 2.5-1.5.
R6: Russia-England 3-1; Ukraine-Germany 1 2-2; Azerbaijan-Armenia 1.5-2.5.
R5: Germany 1-Russia 2-2; Armenia-Netherlands 2.5-1.5; Hungary-Ukraine 1.5-2.5.
R4: Russia-India 2.5-1.5; Ukraine-Armenia 2-2; Spain-Germany 1 1.5-2.5; Azerbaijan-USA 3-1.
R3: Russia-Cuba 3.5-0.5; Germany 1-Malaysia 3.5-0.5; South Africa-USA 1.5-2.5.
R2: Poland-Russia 1.5-2.5, Slovenia-Germany 1 1-3; USA-Greece 2-2.
R1: Russia-Switzerland 2.5-1.5; Germany 1-Scotland 3.5-0.5; Iceland-USA 1.5-2.5.
Site: http://www.dresden2008.de/site/en/main.htm

The World Chess Championship took place October 14-15, 17-18, 20-21, 23-24, 26-27, 29, 2008 in Bonn (Germany), between Viswanathan Anand (India) and Vladimir Kramnik (Russia). Kramnik-Anand 4.5-6.5. Viswanathan Anand is the World Chess Champion.
G11: Anand-Kramnik 1/2. Sicilian. Viswanathan played 1.e2-e4, he has a small advantage thanks to the better pawn structure.
G10: Kramnik-Anand 1-0. Nimzo-Indian 5.g3. A theoretical duel. After terrific Kramnik's novelty 18.Re1!! Anand made errors and lost.
G9: Anand-Kramnik 1/2. A sharp fight. Vladimir grabbed a pawn, then he gained a huge edge, but made a mistake, 35...Qc7, now after 36.Qxc7 Bxc7 37.Bc4 Viswanathan has good chances to level.
G8: Kramnik-Anand 1/2. Vladimir has a small advantage thanks to the better pawn structure. Perpetual check.
G7: Anand-Kramnik 1/2. A theoretical duel in the Slav, the same opening as in the Topalov-Kramnik match, game 2. Viswanathan had a slight edge. The endgame was drawish.
G6: Anand-Kramnik 1-0. Nimzo-Indian 4.Qc2. White grabbed two pawns in the endgame and must win.
G5: Kramnik-Anand 0-1. A theoretical duel, the same opening as in game 3. Now Viswanathan prefers 15...Rg8, with counterplay. Kramnik made a mistake 29.Nxd4, and Anand won with the strong 34...Ne3.
G4: Anand-Kramnik 1/2. Queen's Gambit. Looks drawish, though Vladimir tries to complicate the game with 24...g5.
G3: Kramnik-Anand 0-1. Semi-Slav. A sharp fight. 14...Bb7!! and 15...Bd6 are rare continuations. Anand wisely sacrificed two pawns, and after 29...Rg1+ he had a powerful attack and won.
G2: Anand-Kramnik 1/2. Nimzo-Indian 4. f3. Anand had an extra pawn and a small edge.
G1: Kramnik-Anand 1/2. Vladimir grabbed a pawn in the Slav, but Vishy easily made a draw.
Site: http://www.uep-worldchess.com/

The European Club Cup 2008 took place in Kallithea (Greece) October 16th-24th.
Women: 1. Cercle d'Echecs Monte Carlo - 12; 2. Spartak Vidnoe - 10 (19.5); 3. T-com Podgorica - 10 (19); 4. Economist SGSEU Saratov - 10 (16.5).
Open: 1. URAL Sverdlovskaya - 12 (32); 2. OSG Baden-Baden e.V. - 12 (27.5); 3. PVK Kiev Chess - 11.
Site: http://ecc2008.chessdom.com/

The Essent Chess Tournaments 2008 took place in Hoogeveen (The Netherlands) October 17th-25th.
Crown: 1. Ivan Sokolov - 5/6; 2-3. Jan Smeets, Ahmed Adly - 2.5; 4. Marie Sebag - 2.
Open: 1-3. Nijboer, Friso; Fier, Alexandr; Haslinger, Stewart G - 7/9.
Site: http://www.essentchess.nl/

The Russian Championship 2008 Superfinal took place in Moscow 3-6, 8-11, 13-15 October. 1-3. Jakovenko, Dmitry; Svidler, Peter; Alekseev, Evgeny - 7/11.
In round 6 Tomashevsky had the initiative in the King's Indian Saemisch against Inarkiev and could win with 28.Ng5.
Tiebreak took place October 28: 1. Svidler, Peter; 2. Jakovenko, Dmitry; 3. Alekseev, Evgeny.

The World Women's Championship 2008 took place in Nalchik (Kabardino-Balkaria, Russian Federation) from 28 August to 18 September. Alexandra Kosteniuk is the World Women Champion. Silver: Hou Yifan. Bronze medals: Pia Cramling and Humpy Koneru.

Kosteniuk, Alexandra - Hou, Yifan 1/2. Sicilian. Alexandra gained a small advantage, then Yifan completely levelled the game. Yifan made errors, 34...Rc8 and 35...Rfd8, so Alexandra stormed on the kingside with the strong 36.Rxh7+! and could quickly win with 39.b6. Then in the drawish position Yifan blundered, and Alexandra obtained a huge edge with 46.Rd5, because the black king was in danger (queen vs 2 rooks). However, Alexandra preferred to do a draw by perpetual check to become the Champion.

Hou, Yifan - Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1/2. Yifan grabbed a pawn in the Ruy Lopez, Alexandra got good counterplay (two bishops, the lonely white d3-pawn) after 17.Nxg6, 17.Ng4 looks better. Then Alexandra had two extra pawns in the rook endgame.
Kosteniuk, Alexandra - Hou, Yifan 1/2. Yifan grabbed a pawn in the French, then Alexandra took a pawn back, but Yifan obtained good counterplay. Then Yifan made a mistake, 27...h5, and Alexandra won a pawn, could win with 39.Nxf5. Now the position is drawish because Alexandra (3 extra pawns) must give her rook for the e-pawn. Perpetual check.
Hou, Yifan - Kosteniuk, Alexandra 0-1. Alexandra levelled in the Ruy Lopez, then she obtained an advantage due to weak squares in the White's camp.
Site: http://nalchik2008.fide.com/?lang=eng

The Chess Grand Slam Final 2008 took place in Bilbao 1st-13th September. 1.Topalov, Veselin - 6.5/10; 2-4. Aronian, Levon; Ivanchuk, Vassily; Carlsen, Magnus - 5; 5. Radjabov, Teimour - 4.5; 6. Anand, Viswanathan - 4.
Site: http://www.bilbaofinalmasters.com/

The Russian Championship 2008 HL took place in Novokuznetsk (Siberia) September 3-14. 1. Timofeev, Artyom 8/11; 2-3. Vitiugov, Nikita; Inarkiev, Ernesto - 7.5.

The Chess Classic Mainz 2008 took place from July 28 to August 3 in the Rheingoldhalle of the Congress Centre, Hilton Hotel in Mainz, Germany.
Grenkeleasing Rapid Chess World Championship
Final: Viswanathan Anand - Magnus Carlsen 3-1.
For 3rd place: Alexander Morozevich - Judit Polgar 2.5-1.5
Ordix Open: 1-2. Nepomniachtchi, Ian; Eljanov,Pavel - 9.5/11.
Site: http://www.chesstigers.de/

The 17th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament 2008 was held from March 15 to March 27 in Nice (France).
1. Aronian - 14.5; 2-5. Kramnik, Leko, Topalov, Carlsen - 12; 6-8. Anand, Morozevich, Ivanchuk - 11; 9. Karjakin - 9.5; 10-12. Mamedyarov, Gelfand, van Wely - 9.
In round 1 Anand attacked Kramnik in the Dutch structure and won with a queen sacrifice!
Site: http://www.amberchess2008.com/

The German Bundesliga 2007-2008 took place 19th October 2007 - 20th April 2008. 1. OSC Baden-Baden 29; 2. Werder Bremen 24; 3. SV Mulheim-Nord 22.
Site: http://www.schachbundesliga.de/

The 10th World University Chess Championship 2008 took place in Novokuznetsk (Siberia), 4th-10th March.
1-2. Dmitry Bocharov; Igor Lysyj - 7 from 9 scores. Women: 1-2. Irina Vasilevich, Natalija Pogonina - 6.5 from 9 scores.
1. Russia 27, 2. China 22.5, 3. Mongolia 22.5.
Site: http://www.wucc2008.org/

The Morelia - Linares 2008 tournament took place 15th-23rd February (Mexico) and 28th February - 7th March (Spain). 1. Viswanathan Anand - 8.5; 2. Magnus Carlsen - 8; 3-4. Levon Aronian, Veselin Topalov - 7.5; 5. Teimour Radjabov - 7; 6. Vassily Ivanchuk - 6.5; 7-8. Peter Leko, Alexei Shirov - 5.5.
R13: Ivanchuk-Anand 1/2. A quick draw.
Radjabov-Shirov 1-0. Teimour trapped a rook.
Aronian-Carlsen 1/2. Levon had an advantage.
Topalov-Leko 1-0. Better was 21...c5 with equality.

R12: Anand-Leko 1/2. Endgame.
Carlsen-Topalov 1-0. A sharp fight, Magnus sacrificed three pawns and checkmated! Veselin made a fatal mistake, 34...Nc6, correct was 34...Kg8 or 34...Qd5 with equality.
Ivanchuk-Radjabov 1/2. Looks drawish. 26...Bh6 is interesting.
Shirov-Aronian 1/2. A theoretical duel in the Spanish Marshall. Alexei had an extra knight after 59.f8N+.

R11: Topalov-Shirov 1-0. A theoretical duel in the Gruenfeld.
Leko-Carlsen 1-0. Peter grabbed a pawn in the endgame.
Radjabov-Anand 1/2. A quick draw.
Aronian-Ivanchuk 1/2. A quick draw.

R8: Anand-Shirov 1-0. Viswanathan gradually outplayed the rival, won a pawn and the game.
Radjabov-Leko 1/2. A sharp fight!
Ivanchuk-Carlsen 0-1. A chaotic struggle, unclear.
Aronian-Topalov 1-0. With equality, but then Veselin erroneously traded his queen.

R6: Aronian-Leko 1/2. 9.Qa4 is a novelty. A sharp fight! Black could try 9...Qxf2+, 19...h4.
Ivanchuk-Shirov 1/2. Alexei had the initiative.
Topalov-Anand 1/2. Perpetual check.
Radjabov-Carlsen 1-0. Better was 25...b6, Teimour won with the nice 27.Ba6.

R5: Topalov-Carlsen 0-1. Magnus levelled in the Alekhine Defence, grabbed the central pawn.
Aronian-Shirov 1/2. Two bishops, a quick draw.
Leko-Anand 0-1. Endgame, probably Peter could win.
Radjabov-Ivanchuk 1/2. Teimour attacked with 17.f5. Perpetual check.

R4: Shirov-Topalov 1-0. Alexei outplayed the rival in the endgame.
Carlsen-Leko 1/2. Peter easily levelled in the Nimzo.
Anand-Radjabov 1/2. Teimour had two bishops for the sacrificed pawn.
Ivanchuk-Aronian 0-1. Vassily could win with 30.Qxf5, then with 35.h6 or 37.Qb4, also 38.Qe5 was better.

R3: Leko-Shirov 1/2. A theoretical duel in the Sicilian, with equality.
Carlsen-Anand 0-1. Viswanathan had a clear advantage.
Aronian-Radjabov 1/2. Looks drawish, KID.
Topalov-Ivanchuk 1-0. Veselin gained an advantage in development, grabbed a pawn.

R2: Anand-Aronian 0-1. Anand grabbed a pawn in the Spanish Marshall. 24...f5 looked risky, but 28.Qd3 and 29.Nd2 were bad, 30.Nf3 was fatal mistake, Levon won with 30...Re3.
Ivanchuk-Leko 1-0. The opponents traded pieces, peace? No peace. Vassily gave his queen for two rooks. 38...Bh3 was correct.
Radjabov-Topalov 1/2. Spanish Berlin, slightly better for Teimour, but 18.Rd2 is mistake.
Shirov-Carlsen 1/2. Sicilian, slightly better for Alexei. Perpetual check.

R1: Shirov-Anand 0-1. Viswanathan sacrificed the exchange in the Sicilian. A sharp fight!
Topalov-Aronian 1-0. White pawns were weak, but Veselin had two bishops, grabbed all. 15...exf4 and 16...a5 were mistakes, 15...Re8 is better.
Leko-Radjabov 1-0. Peter had a small edge, gradually outplayed the rival.
Carlsen-Ivanchuk 1/2. Magnus pressed on the d-pawn. A draw by repetition.
Games (56, zipped pgn)
Site: http://www.ajedrezmorelialinares.com.mx/

The Cappelle la Grande Open 2008 took place 16th-23rd February in France. 1-8. Gashimov; Arutinian; Fedorchuk; Kryvoruchko; Chernyshov; Deviatkin; Kotronias; L'Ami - 7/9.

Hoolt Sarah Moiseenko Alexander Spraggett Kevin. Photos: www.cappelle-chess.com

Site: http://www.cappelle-chess.com/

The Aeroflot Open 2008 took place 14th-22nd February in Moscow, Russia. 1. Nepomniachtchi, Ian - 7/9. 2-3. Motylev, Alexander; Dreev, Alexey - 6.5.
Site: http://www.aeroflotchess.com/

The Pfalz Open 2008 took place in Neustadt (Germany) 15th-23rd February. 1. Markowski,Tomasz - 7.5/9.
Site: http://www.pfalzopen.de/, live games

The German Championship 2008 took place in Bad Worishofen 15th-23rd February. 1. Fridman,Daniel - 7.5/9.
Site: http://www.schachclub-tuerkheim-bw.de/, live games

The Gibtelecom Chess Festival 2008 took place 22nd-31st January at the Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar.
Play-off: Hikaru Nakamura - Bu Xiangzhi 2-0. 1-2. Hikaru Nakamura; Bu Xiangzhi - 8/10; 3-9. Areshchenko, Alexander; Bologan, Viktor; Efimenko, Zahar; Gopal, G.N.; Gurevich, Mikhail; Ni, Hua; Wang, Hao - 7.5.
There are many good games in the Dutch Defence, e.g. Stefanova-Gurevich 1-0 (But Mikhail made mistakes, see my CD "Dutch A80-A85"), Hillarp Persson-Bellin 0-1.
Site: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/

The Corus Chess Tournaments 2008 took place in Wijk aan Zee (The Netherlands) January 11th-27th.
1-2. Aronian, Levon; Carlsen, Magnus - 8, 3-4. Anand, Viswanathan; Radjabov, Teimour - 7.5; 5-6. Leko, Peter; Ivanchuk, Vassily - 7; 7-8. Adams, Michael; Kramnik, Vladimir - 6.5; 9-11. Topalov, Veselin; Polgar, Judit; Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - 6; 12-14. Eljanov, Pavel; Gelfand, Boris; Van Wely, Loek - 5.
Games (91, zipped pgn)
R13: Leko-Mamedyarov 1-0 (Peter had harmonious play), Gelfand-Eljanov 1-0 (Black's kingside was weak).
R12: Kramnik-Carlsen 0-1 (Magnus gradually outplayed the rival: seized space on the kingside with f5, g5, then attacked on the queenside in the ending), Adams-Polgar 0-1 (Judit gained the better pawn structure), Eljanov-Topalov 1-0 (Veselin gave a piece).
R11: Carlsen-Anand 0-1 (A sharp fight, Magnus could make a draw with 33.Rxf5), Aronian-Van Wely 1-0 (Levon stormed with 24.Rxc6 and 26.Nd6+, better were 16...d4, 22...0-0), Gelfand-Radjabov 0-1 (29...Nh5 is correct), Polgar-Eljanov 0-1 (Pavel attacked).
R10: Van Wely-Carlsen 0-1 (Loek had a huge edge, then made fatal mistakes on 39-41 moves), Eljanov-Ivanchuk 0-1 (Vassily got the initiative on the queenside).
R9: Leko-Carlsen 1-0 (Peter pushed the a-pawn in the rook vs two knights endgame), Topalov-Kramnik 1-0 (12.Nxf7 is an interesting novelty, 17...Rhg8 looks better), Adams-Van Wely 1-0 (Michael pressured on the d-file, won the a5-pawn).
R8: Anand-Topalov 1-0 (Viswanathan stormed on the kingside with 29.f5, 31.g4).
R7: Aronian-Radjabov 1-0 (Levon grabbed a pawn), Polgar-Anand 0-1 (Judit had an edge in the Sicilian, but then made mistakes).
R6: Carlsen-Polgar 1-0 (Strong bishops, two extra pawns), Kramnik-Aronian 1-0 (25.Nc3 is a good novelty, 110 moves), Leko-Topalov 0-1 (Better is 49.Qa7+ with equality).
R5: Mamedyarov-Van Wely 1-0 (An edge with 31.f7), Topalov-Gelfand 1-0 (Veselin won a queen), Eljanov-Radjabov 0-1 (Teimour attacked with 25...f5).
R4: Kramnik-Eljanov 1-0 (Endgame), Van Wely-Topalov 1-0 (Loek won the exchange), Gelfand-Polgar 0-1 (Judit pushed his pawn on d2).
R2: Carlsen-Eljanov 1-0 (Magnus attacked with 40.f4), Gelfand-Aronian 0-1 (Two bishops).
R1: Radjabov-Anand 1-0 (Teimour had two strong pawns in the centre), Aronian-Topalov 1-0 (Veselin won the exchange, but Levon gathered pawns), Mamedyarov-Carlsen 0-1 (Looked drawish).

Corus B: 1. Movsesian, Sergei - 9.5; 2-3. Short, Nigel; Bacrot, Etienne - 8.5.
Corus C: 1. Caruana, Fabiano - 10; 2-3. Reinderman, Dimitri; Negi, Parimarjan - 8.
Corus Honorary: 1. Ljubojevic, Ljubomir - 4; 2-3. Timman, Jan; Korchnoi, Viktor - 3; 4. Portisch, Lajos - 2.

Site: http://www.coruschess.com/

The Croatian Chess Championship 2008 took place in Split 16th-29th January.
1. Stevic, Hrvoje - 8/12; 2. Zelcic, Robert - 7; 3-6. Kurajica, Bojan; Hulak, Krunoslav; Jankovic, Alojzije; Jovanovic, Zoran - 6.5.
Site: http://www.a1split.hr/prvenstvo/prvenstvo.html

The New Zealand Chess Championship 2008 was held in Auckland, January 15th-25th.
1. Chandler, Murray - 9/11; 2-3. Dive, Russell John; Steadman, Michael - 7.5.
Site: http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/

The Australian Championships 2008 took place 2nd-11th January in Parramatta.
1. Antic, Dejan - 8.5/11; 2-3. Solomon, Stephen; Van Riemsdijk, Herman - 8; 4. Xie, George Wendi - 7.5.
Site: http://www.parramattachess.org/auschamps2008

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