World Championship G7 – Gelfand draws first blood and leads
20.05.2012 – It's the decisive result for which everyone has been clamoring, but it wasn't the big win Anand's fans were hoping for. As noted by Kasparov, the buzzword so far has been "safety", and here it was taken too far, as the passive play by the world champion allowed Gelfand to penetrate with decisive effect for the match's first win. Extensive analysis by GM Gilberto Milos and IM Malcolm Pein.
 

Kavalek in Huffington: Women in chess – a few tales (Part 2)
20.05.2012 – After WWII Russian ladies had the World Championship title, but in 1962 they were replaced by two Georgian players who dominated women's chess – for nearly thirty years. Then the Chinese took over, their dynasty only briefly interrupted by champions from Hungary, Bulgaria and Russia. In part two of his Huffington Post column GM Lubomir Kavalek retraces history with some exciting games.
 

2012 Polish Extra League
19.05.2012 – Not all chess leagues can sustain the pure caliber of the German Bundesliga, but the Polish Extra League does have a good excuse: they limit teams to only one foreign 'import'. If you thought this might mean each would be jockeying for a 2700, think again as Polonia invested in Anna Muzychuk (2598) to strengthen their lineup. The start brought hard-fought games with several creative efforts.
 

ChessBase 25 Composing Tourney Awards – Part five
19.05.2012 – "Congratulations to ChessBase on attracting such high quality entries!" writes problem expert David Friedgood. "The first prize winner is truly amazing, showing a fight of rare equality of brilliance between the protagonists." There were many more laudatory messages from problemists and amateurs alike. Today's studies are from USA, Spain, France, Argentina and Hungary. Final installment.
 

US Championship – Kamsky takes lead with two rounds to go
18.05.2012 – It was an unexpected turn of events, in which a bit of good fortune was Gata Kamsky's reward for years of hard work. In round nine, tied with Nakamura, Kamsky saw Seirawan walk into some years old preparation that ended the game with a spectacular finish. Nakamura was not so lucky as he toiled for 121 moves against Lenderman before shaking hands. Illustrated report with video summaries.
 

World Championship G6 – A sixth draw; Kasparov comments
18.05.2012 – It was a sixth straight draw, and though no significant advantage was ever achieved, the chances were Gelfand's, which was in itself both promising and worrisome. Promising as he got a small edge, but worrisome as Anand has held Gelfand so easily with Black so far. Perhaps the highlight was the surprise commentator: Garry Kasparov. Full report with analysis by GM Gilberto Milos.
 

CBM training: Endgames from the US Championships
18.05.2012 – Gata Kamsky is currently in the sole lead, Hikaru Nakamura is trying to catch him. Our ChessBase Magazin author Dr Karsten Müller has been following the games and extracting the ones with interesting and instructive endgames. His analysis and annotations will help you to improve your technique in this vital section of the game and give your Elo rating a boost.
 

World Championship G5 – Sveshnikov drawn in 27 moves
17.05.2012 – In the fifth game Anand and Gelfand played 17 moves of theory, after which White deviated from the previous 2009 game and seemed to get a small advantage. However Anand allowed his Israeli challenger to trade down and after ten more moves there was nothing left to play for. Full report with pictures and videos, as well as double analysis by GM Romain Edouard and IM Malcolm Pein.
 

Sigeman: Caruana wins Sigeman with 2852 performance
16.05.2012 – He is the hottest chess talent – still a junior but number eight in the world. Italian/American GM Fabiano Caruana won his last two games in the Hipp Theater in Malmo, Sweden. His 2852 performance should contribute seven points to his FIDE rating. Hungarian GM Peter Leko celebrated his "comeback" with the second place and a respectable 2792 performance. Big closing report.
 

World Championship: Interviews, reflections, chess sets
16.05.2012 – Is the Championship in Moscow, without a Russian player, an audience success? Can chess ever be that? Yes it can, says chief organiser Ilya Levitov, who has a 21st Century formula to bring chess to a wide audience – and make events pay for themselves. Compelling. We also get a tour of chess sets and pictures in the Tretyakov Museum. Must-watch interview by Europe Echecs.
 

US Championship – Kamsky joins Nakamura in lead
16.05.2012 – One thing must be said about the US championship, on top of the great organization and live coverage open to all, and that is that it is anything but boring. In round five, Nakamura had taken the sole lead, but Kamsky was not about to give up his title that easily, and in round seven caught up as the two lead by a full point. GM Ramirez beat Kaidanov in one of the craziest games of his career.
 

World Championship Rest Day 2 – Daniel King opines on action and lack of
16.05.2012 – Today, GM Daniel King did a private broadcast on the action until now, and more specifically commented on the lack of action many have been grumbling about. To further spice up the show, he read the comments by Steve Giddins on computers and chess, and had something to say about that as well. Still, it is not just a talk show, and he compares Anand to ... Petrosian!