All news

• Zhao Xue races ahead

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  Another win by the Chinese GM Zhao Xue has left her high and dry at the top of the table. The winning margin is going to be enormous! The two others winners in the ninth round were Russian, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Ekaterina Kovalevskaya.

• Morozevich: Victor in Saratov

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  A final round victory in Saratov has left Alexander Morozevich a full 1½ points ahead at the end of the Governer's Cup in Saratov. Behind him, fellow Russian Evgeny Tomashevsky was second after a final round draw. Curiously enough, Alexei Shirov finished in fourth place having made eleven straight draws! Nikita Vitiugov was too ill to play his last two games, gifting points to Peter Leko and Ni Hua.

• Tomashevsky and Leko advance

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  Alexander Morozevich is still ahead on 7½/10, but his lead has been cut to just one point now that second-placed Evgeny Tomashevsky has won for the third time. Peter Leko was also victorious and has consolidated his position in third place. With one round to go Morozevich just needs half-a-point to ensure outright victory in the tournament.

• Two Draws in Unive

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  Vladimir Kramnik still leads the Unive tournament after drawing with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the third round. The Frenchman castled long and the middlegame proved to be tense at first, but the players eventually settled for drawish exchanges. The other game between Judit Polgar and Anish Giri was drawn, but after a rather quiet opening.

• A day of surprises!

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  Apart from Zhao Xue, who bulldozed her way through Nadezhda Kosintseva's defences, the other winners in the eighth round were previously languishing at the bottom. Both Zhu Chen and Alexandra Kosteniuk managed their second victories in Nalchik whereas Batkhuyag Munguntuul will be relieved to finally win a game. Zhao Xue now has an incredible 7½/8, three points ahead of the next placed player!

• Kramnik again!

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  A storming win over Judit Polgar makes it 2/2 for former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, whose virtual rating is now a tantalizing 2799! In the other game, Anish Giri rather ambitiously castled queenside, but Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was able to simplify to equality.

• Eljanov on the attack!

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  Pavel Eljanov has had a frustrating time over the last year as his rating has been on the slide, however he put all that behind him today as he won an exciting attacking game against Dmitry Andreikin. With a draw occurring in the clash between first and second, Alexander Morozevich retains his 1½ point lead over Evgeny Tomashevsky.

• Kramnik starts strongly

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  Not for the first time, Anish Giri had problems to handle Vladimir Kramnik with the black pieces. The top seed won comfortably in the King's Indian Defence against the young Dutch star. In the other game, a long battle between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Judit Polgar ended in a draw.

• Unive Tournament in Hoogeveen, Netherlands

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  The 15th Unive Tournament 2011 in Hoogeveen, Netherlands is underway. The featured event is a the Crown Group, a four-player double-round robin with Vladimir Kramnik, Anish Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Judit Polgar with an average rating of 2732!

• Cmilyte and Lahno win

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  Victories by Kateryna Lahno and Viktorija Cmilyte have enabled the pair to get back to 50%. At the top, Zhao Xue drops her first draw, whereas her compatriot Ju Wenjun is now second alone as Antoaneta Stefanova lost.

• Tomashevsky up to second

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  Evgeny Tomashevsky was the only winner today, against Alexander Moiseenko, and is now in second place alone. Ahead of him, with a full 1½ points margin, is the leader Alexander Morozevich on 6½/8.

• Zhao Xue maintains her 100% record!

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  A sixth round win has extended Zhao Xue's amazing run. In such events 6/6 is unprecedented and has given the Chinese GM a whopping two point lead. There were two other victors today, Ekaterina Kovalevskaya over Viktorija Cmilyte, and Antoaneta Stefanova with Black against Batkhuyag Munguntuul.

• The Morozevich show goes on!

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  Another victory by Alexander Morozevich sees him storming ahead after the seventh round of the Governor's Cup in Saratov. He now has a two point lead over his closest challengers. I estimate that today's win takes him back into the World Top Ten, as his dramatic return to form continues.

• Zhao Xue unstoppable!

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  With five wins out of five, Zhao Xue is racing away from the rest of the field in Nalchik. As Ju Wenjun is in second place, the Chinese players are again dominating the FIDE Grand Prix, as they did in the first two stages.

• Women's Grand Prix in Nalchik

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  The third event in the Women's Grand Prix takes place in Nalchik, Russia from the 9th to the 21st of October. Nalchik is a spa town situated in the northern Caucasus. Twelve of the leading female players in the world are involved, the Kosintseva sisters, Kateryna Lahno and Ju Wenjun being amongst the favourites.

• Vitiugov the only winner

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  In round 6, the Russian GM Nikita Vitiugov won with Black against his countryman Dmitry Andreikin, whereas the other five games were drawn. Overall, Alexander Morozevich is still way ahead on 5/6, whereas the three players on equal second have 3.5/6.

• Bacrot catches Karjakin

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  A win with Black by Etienne Bacrot has enabled him to catch-up with Sergey Karjakin at the final hurdle. In third place was Fabiano Caruana. Only these three players finished on a plus score in a tournament dominated by draws.

• Morozevich does it again!

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  Alexander Morozevich wins for the fourth time and makes another great stride away from the pack. He now leads by a remarkable 1½ points. Peter Leko won his first game and joins Evgeny Tomashevsky and Evgeny Alekseev in equal second.

• Karjakin breaks through

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  The favourite Sergey Karjakin has taken the lead in Poikovsky after the penultimate round. His opponent Zahar Efimenko quickly got into a tangle in the quiet Bishop's game, and this led to Karjakin winning the exchange. The other four games were drawn, so Fabiano Caruana and Etienne Bacrot are in equal second.

• Morozevich wins three in a row!

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  After four rounds of the prestigious Governer's cup in Saratov, the in-form Alexander Morozevich is already one point ahead of his nearest rivals. In equal second are two other Russians, Evgeny Alekseev and the other Evgeny, Tomashevsky. The top seed, Ruslan Ponomariov has had a mediocre start with three draws and a loss to Alekseev.