H.Rumph

Joel Benjamin answers a loaded question about  how to inspire American born players in an era of U.S. chess in which immigrants dominate.

E-mail your own questions to Joel!

The regular season of the United States Chess League will see a thrilling finale this Wednesday. Nine out of ten teams are still in contention to advance to the playoffs and win it all. Who are you rooting for?
Read more...

Macauley Peterson reports on the Essent tournament (October 22-28.) Judit Polgar and Shakhryar "Shak" Mamedyarov tied for first place with 4.5/6, besting third place Topalov by two full points.
Read more...

Alisa Melekhina won her last five games!

The World Youth ended in disappointment as our medal contender, Ray Robson (Boys U12) lost a tough endgame against Ilya Zyzhnyk. Alisa Melekhina rallied energetically to come in fourth place. She won her last five games! Full report from coach Aviv Friedman on its way.
Read more...

With a round to go, Ray Robson has 7.5/10 and is in medal contention in the Boys U12 section of the World Youth Championship (Batumi,Georgia October 19-28). In the final round tomorrow, he is on board two with Black against Nyzhnyk Illya from Ukraine. Our other twenty representatives are playing well, and most have plus scores or the chance to achieve them with last round wins.
Read more...

The October 20 intercollegiate battle between the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Belgrade ended in a 8.5-7.5 victory for the Serbians. The 16 board match was filled with brilliant fireworks, including a dazzling win by Texas State Champion Drasko Boskovic.
Read more...

Peter Doggers

Macauley Blogs from the Essent tournament in Hoogeveen, Netherlands (October 22-28). Topalov, likely worn out from his match with Kramnik, shares last place with Ivan Sokolov. Judit Polgar on the other hand, hasn't played for a whole year, but she shares the top with GM Shakhryar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan.
Read more...

Ray celebrates his birthday and his 4.5/6 score. Photo Duiju Wang

Ray Robson celebrates his twelfth birthday at the World Youth in Batumi, Georgia (October 19-28). Report includes Results Update after 8 Rounds: Ray Robson (Boys U12) and Eve Zhurbinsky (Girls U10) lead the U.S. Squad with 6/8 each.
Read more...

In an analysis heavy column, GM Joel helps aspiring master Jonathan Hilton navigate a position after his opponent made an unsound but practical sacrifice.

E-mail your own questions to Joel!

Tatev Abrahayman, courtesy of monroi.com

The World Youth Championship(October 19-28, Batumi Georgia)is underway! 21 young talents are playing for the United States in twelve sections. After four rounds of play top U.S. scorers are Tatev Abrahamyan, who is 4-0 in the Girls U18 and Ray Robson, with 3.5/4 in the Boys U12. Read the full story for pictures, games and results.

GM Victor Mikhalevski by Clint Ballard

The GM Slugfest(Oct.13-15) rocked Seattle last weekend with its revolutionary new scoring system (BAP). Designed by organizer Clint Ballard to avoid quick draws, BAP succeeded in creating a thrillingly dramatic last round. All 5 GMs in contention needed to win for a share of the glory. Victor Mikhalevski landed the final and decisive blow to walk away with $5000 in cash.
Read more...

Magesh Panchanatan

In Round 8 of the U.S. Chess League, The Dallas Destiny scored a shocking 4-0 sweep against the Baltimore Kingfishers. All the members of the Dallas Destiny are University of Texas at Dallas students. Their big win raises morale just in time for a massive international, intercollegiate match tomorrow (October 20,2 PM EST) against the University of Serbia.
Read more...

Photo by Rick Biddenstadt, courtesy of UTD

Top 100 rating lists have migrated to the new site! Read Greg Shahade's October List recap on the recent results of our top ten male and top five female players. He covers Tatev Abrahayman's recent outing at the World Girls Championship and Yury Shulman's fast ride up from #17 on the list to #6.
Read more...

Courtesy Lt. Colonel Robert Burks

Cadet David Jacobs won his third Armed Forces title in a row. Head TD Michael Atkins reports from the scene. Bonus: If you translated your chess strength into military rank, what kind of soldier would you be?
Read more...

Photo JS

Read your October Chess Life on your computer, where you can play the games or download a pgn file. There's also bonus material from Jerry Hanken's coverage of the World Open, where he annotates games by GMs Alexander Ivanov, Joel Benjamin, Leonid Yudasin and Shogi Champion Yoshiharu Habu.
Read more...

Misha Savinov

What does Kramnik intend to do now that he's won the World Championship? Read Ian Rogers' final report to find out.
Read more...