All news

• Lots of fight, but no wins in the Tal Memorial

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  Some tense battles again today led to another five draws. However, unlike yesterday none of the players ever seemed on the verge of victory. The sixth round is on Tuesday after tomorrow's rest day. The same four players lead on 3/5.

• All draws in Moscow

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  A day of five hard-fought draws in the Tal Memorial in Moscow. The lead is still shared by four players: Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Sergey Karjakin and Ian Nepomniachtchi.

• Hou Yifan keeps control

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  Being a point down, Humpy Koneru switched to the somewhat more dynamic Open variation of the Ruy Lopez. However she was never able to generate any serious counterplay and it was the World champion who avoided a repetition. Hou Yifan even went on to win a pawn, but this was insufficient for victory due to the Indian's careful defence.

• Three Black wins in Moscow

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  After the third round, Levon Aronian has joined the lead after beating Vassily Ivanchuk with the black pieces in a Spanish Berlin. Apart from Ian Nepomniachtchi and Magnus Carlsen, Sergey Karjakin is also up there on 2/3. Peter Svidler won with his favourite Grünfeld Defence against Hikaru Nakamura.

• Hou Yifan wins with Black!

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  The World Champion significantly improved her chances of retaining the title with a win as Black in the popular Ragozin system. Black's queen penetration turned out to be more significant than White picking off the h-pawn.

• Ivanchuk, Nepomniachtchi and now Carlsen

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  Ivanchuk equalized easily and pressed in the endgame, but was unable to cash-in his pawn up advantage. Magnus Carlsen managed to win a confusing game against Boris Gelfand where it was the Israeli who made most of the running. The World number one now joins the leading group.

• Ivanchuk and Nepomniachtchi are the early leaders

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  In the first round, the big surpise was created by outsider Ian Nepomniachtchi who beat Vladimir Kramnik in an opposite-bishop endgame with the black pieces. The other winner was Vassily Ivanchuk, despite the Ukrainian being in time trouble for much of his encounter with Peter Svidler.

• Tal Memorial in Moscow

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  Michael Tal was born 75 years ago in Riga, and his annual memorial is particularly strong this time around with seven of the World's top ten competing. The ten player round robin takes place from the 16th to the 25th of November in the Pashkov House ( a mansion opposite the Kremlin) in Moscow, Russia.

• A second solid draw in Tirana

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  Hou Yifan was unable to obtain anything against Humpy Koneru who opted for the solid Petroff Defence in the second game of the Women's World championship match. The third game will be on Thursday the 17th of November after a rest day on Wednesday.

• Draw in first game

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  Humpy Koneru kept trying for 80 moves with the White pieces, but was unable to shake Hou Yifan's resolve. So the first of ten classical games ended in a draw. World Champion Hou Yifan with have White in the next game.

• Women's World Championship in Tirana

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  The Tirana international Hotel in Tirana, Albania is the venue for the all-Asian clash between Humpy Koneru and Hou Yifan for the World Championship crown. The ten game match will take place until the 30th of November.

• Mamedyarov gets the highest performance

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  Shakhriyar Mamedyarov made a 2866 performance in Porto Carras, helping his team on the way to a silver medal. Gold medal winner on board one was Michael Adams of England. Anna Muzychuk's 8.5/9 left her well ahead of her rivals in the women's ranking list with Kateryna Lahno in second place.

• Germany are Champions!

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  After a highly-competitive event, with the 'Open' Championship living up to its name, it's tenth seed Germany who became the 2011 European Team Champions. In the last round they won against Armenia (Meier beat Movsesian) and this was just what they required to keep ahead of the pack. I can't recall any recent team events where the lead has changed hands so often! In the Women's event, Russia led from start to finish with Poland earning Silver and Georgia obtaining bronze.

• Armenia or Germany?

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  Germany upset the apple-cart by beating the pre-round leaders Azerbaijan, due to Arkadij Naiditsch's victory over Teimour Radjabov. Armenia beat the Netherlands and lead by one game point. In the Women's event Russia are virtually assured of gold with Poland still in second place.

• Azerbaijan first alone after big win

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  A 3.5-0.5 drubbing of Bulgaria has seen Azerbaijan go first ahead of the Armenian and German teams. The big suprise in the seventh round was Switzerland beating Ukraine 3-1! Russia are still on course for the women's crown, with Poland in second place after their victory over Ukraine.

• Romania edge into the lead

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  In the open section of the European team championship the leader keeps changing each round! Romania beat Greece in a tight match and are just ahead of Azerbaijan and Bulgaria on game points. In the women's section, Russia still lead but were held today by Poland who are third. Ukraine are in second place after winning the big clash with Georgia..

• Bulgaria are the new leaders

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  Wins by Topalov and Cheparinov have enabled the Bulgarian team to move up to first place ahead of four countries, including third seed Azerbaijan who drew with France. In the Women's European Team Championship, Russia continue their domination as they have won all their matches.

• Russia and Ukraine both lose heavily!

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  On top board Azerbaijan and Spain drew, but there were some major surprises in the following two matches. Russia went down 3-1 to Bulgaria, whereas Ukraine only managed a half-point against Germany, who are the new leaders. In the Women's event, Russia won the big clash against Ukraine and thus lead along with Georgia.

• Azerbaijan and Spain lead

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  After three rounds of the European team Championships, Azerbaijan and Spain are in the lead. Five teams are just half-a-point behind them including the Russians who drew with the Netherlands. In the Women's tournament, the top three seeds, Russia, Ivanchuk, Georgia are ahead of fourth seed Armenia.

• Russia imperial, while Azerbaijan beat Armenia

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  Azerbaijan won 3-1 in the biggest clash of the second round, with the Russian team looking ominously efficient against a useful Czech side. The other teams on two victories from two are Romania, Greece and Spain. In the women's section, there are also five leaders including Russia and Romania.