All news

• Down to the wire!

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  World Champion 'Vishy' Anand again sought to surprise his opponent in the opening by employing a different opening system. This time he opted for the English, the first time either player has varied from 1.d4.
  Topalov however seemed comfortable throughout and after the first time control the position was even easier to play for him.
  The game came alive as Topalov's niggling pressure induced Anand to sacrifice a pawn for activity creating some lively play in which he just about held his own.
  So it's Anand 5.5 Topalov 5.5 with one game to go!
  

• Anand steadies the ship.

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  After two games, where Anand lost his way late in the day, many commentators were suggesting that he was showing signs of fatigue.
  Here there was no evidence of this as he defended rather well and nullified any hopes Topalov had of converting a nominal advantage.

• The Women's Grand Prix in Nalchik has finished today.

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  Tatiana Kosintseva made an impressive 9/11 to dominate the Nalchik grand prix throughout. Second placed Hou Yifan was 1.5 points behind, but the favourite Humpy Koneru was surprisingly well down the field.
  Four of the World's top ten were present.
  

• Close but not close enough!

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  There was no Catalan today! Anand varied on move three and the positionally-complex Nimzoindian defence then occurred. In the middlegame Topalov allowed the exchange of both his rooks for Anand's queen and a sharp struggle ensued, but one in which Anand was close to winning. Topalov somehow resisted and held onto a precious half-point.
  So it's Anand 4.5 - Topalov 4.5 with three games to go.

• The 4NCL is over for 2009-2010

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  London centred teams dominated the British Isles league this year with the unbeaten WGHK-1 finishing on top of the pile.
  The leading English player Michael Adams heads up Pride & Prejudice the second-placed team.
  Meri Grigoryan sent me this photo of 'Mickey' in action against Stuart Conquest.

• Could Anand have saved the endgame in game eight?

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  Topalov is now on level terms after yesterday's win, but Anand lost rather quickly in the opposite-coloured bishop ending.
  Clearly something went wrong, so I thought that I'd take a closer look at what he could have done instead.
  

• Anand under pressure as Topalov wins

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  Anand repeated the same queenless middlegame arising from the Slav defence. He varied earlier this time presumably to pre-empt a probable improvement, but never equalized.
  After a couple of decent performances with Black, Topalov was biting at the bit to have a go at Anand with White and after exploiting an imprecision he won a pawn going into the opposite bishop ending. Fine technique earned him his second win.
  See below for our special Videos and my Game Eight annotations.

• The second half gets underway in style!

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  Topalov sacrificed the exchange and later had only one pawn for a piece, but amazingly enough his strong pawns earned him half-a-point.
  As draws go this was a particularly dramatic one, and in my opinion a well-played one by both sides.
  

• Another Catalan in game six

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  The players repeated the line of their second match game, with Anand varying by giving up the bishop pair for rapid development.
  Topalov freed himself by giving back a pawn to liberate his pieces and in the jostling of Anand's knights against Topalov's bishops honours were even.
  Anand keeps his nose ahead in the match situation.

• Anand holds without breaking sweat.

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  Anand stuck to the same line of the Slav with which he drew without too many problems in the third game.
  He changed his approach slightly (not ceding so much space) and again held comfortably, thus maintaining his lead.
  So the present score is Anand 3 Topalov 2.

• Anand again!

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  Another Catalan, another pawn sacrifice but this time Anand downs his opponent with a sensational knight sacrifice that fatally opens up his opponent's king.
  The game is reminiscent of the first match game except that this time it was Anand who was wielding the sword.
  So Anand (2.5) leads Topalov (1.5) for the first time.

• A solid draw keeps things all-square

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  After his disaster in the Grünfeld in the first game, Anand switches to a rather solid line of the Slav Defence. Topalov maintained a space advantage but Anand patiently coordinated his pieces and simplified to nullify any White advantage.
  Have you been following our selection of World Championship Videos? If not, they can all be found below!
  

• Anand bounces back!

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  There is no better way to exorcise a disappointing loss than with a convincing win.
  Today Anand rather demonstrated that he isn't ready to give up his title just yet.
  His long-term pawn sacrifice for better development gave Topalov many practical problems to solve, and the Bulgarian eventually went wrong in an unclear position.

• Topalov draws first blood!

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  By tradition the opening move is played by a VIP, here the Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borisov.
  Once the protagonists got down to the real game, play entered a fashionable line of the Grünfeld Defence in the traditional Exchange Variation. Topalov made the most of his early initiative with a crushing sacrifice that opened up Anand's king to give him an easy win.
  See the game with GM annotations and some great videos below.
  

• Counting down the hours!

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  Topalov will be making the first move this afternoon and now the chess world can talk about chess moves rather than behind the scenes manoeuvring!

• Anand or Topalov?

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  After all the usual pre-match hype the World Championship match will finally get underway tomorrow. Veselin Topalov and Viswanathan Anand are fairly evenly matched on paper, so there is no clear favourite, but Topalov is playing on home soil.

• Bundesliga 2009-2010 has finished

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  Baden-Baden have won the league despite losing one match. The unbeaten Werder Bremen are second just one point behind.
  

• ShSM-64 at a canter!

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  The leaders swept aside the Economist second team 5-1 to confirm and enhance their position. So by the margin of two match points and a few game points to boot, ShSM-64 are this year's champions.
  It's all over for another year and everyone can go home from Dagomys, which, if you didn't know, is a Black Sea resort close to Sochi (see the map).

• It's 64 without a fight

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  Six quick draws between ShSM-64 and St.Petersburg have left the former on the verge of the championship.

• 64 charge ahead

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  Not so long ago Gelfand and Karjakin were battling it out for a place in the Final of the World Cup. Now they are on the same team steering ShSM-64 to a convincing lead in the Russian Team Championships.