FIDE Presidential Elections Khanty-Mansiysk Olympiad Women Olympiad A Tale of Two Swamps Shanghai Magnus Carlsen vs. The World Ulaanbaatar Amsterdam Rowson’s Reviews Bent Larsen Just Checking: Susan Polgar

Content NIC’s Café Your Move Broken Promises and Switched-Off Microphones For five months Anatoly Karpov and his team led by Garry Kasparov worked hard and travelled the world seeking support for their campaign. It was not enough. ­Ignoring the emphatic plea for impartiality by the Court of ­Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov chaired the 81st FIDE Congress himself, systematically silencing his opponents and securing another four years as FIDE president with a landslide 95-55 victory. Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam reports from yet another controversial FIDE Congress. ‘Genius’ Ivanchuk Leads Ukraine to Gold The months leading up to the 39th Chess Olympiad were overshadowed by serious doubts about the hotel capacity in Khanty-Mansiysk and worries about the ever-changing schedules of the charters that were to take the participants to Siberia. But once the players had arrived and checked into their hotels, relief and the Olympic spirit prevailed. In spite of the prospect of a € 50,000 bonus (per player) the Russian favourites missed their goal by a hair’s breadth and had to watch Ukraine, fired on by a brilliant Vasily Ivanchuk, repeat their triumph of Calvia 2004. What Next? Just like the Russian men, the Russian women came to Khanty-Mansiysk as top-seeds, but as their male colleagues stumbled once again, the ladies triumphed with flying colours. Never letting off steam they won all 11 matches to claim the first ever Vera Menchik Cup in the history of their country. A Tale of Two Swamps A light workload standing in as Bermuda’s non-playing captain allowed Graham Hillyard to take a tour of the Khanty-Mansiysk scene. Shirov Shines in Shanghai Luck played a role, but so did creativeness, resilience and strong motivation. Alexey Shirov won the first stage of the 2010 Grand Slam Masters Final held at the Expo and the famous Lu Bo Lang Club in Shanghai. Magnus Carlsen vs. The World With a spectacular view of New York, Magnus Carlsen took on ‘The World’, Garry Kasparov gave his opinion, Liv Tyler dropped by and Maurice Ashley did most of the talking. What more do you want? Hou Yifan Grabs Lead in Women Grand Prix The 16-year-old Chinese sensation not only prevailed in the fifth GP in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, she also moved into first place in the overall standings. Hikaru Nakamura Qualifies for Amber But the inimitable Anish Giri, who dominated the NH Tournament in Amsterdam till disaster struck, bravely reports from ‘the loser’s perspective’. A Fine Bromance Jonathan Rowson read the final volume of Garry Kasparov’s account of his epic clashes with Anatoly Karpov. A Ravaged World Hans Ree on Young Najdorf, a book by Tomasz Lissowski describing Don Miguel’s early career and Polish chess during the Interbellum. ‘I Will Win This Tournament’ Jan Timman remembers Bent Larsen (1935-2010). Just Checking Which three people would Susan Polgar like to invite to dinner? Did they play your opening? In this issue games with the following openings were annotated by world class players: Sicilian N.Kosintseva-Ju Wenjun, by N.Kosintseva Motylev-Sutovsky, by Sutovsky Pirc Svidler-Salgado, by Salgado Ruy Lopez Hou Yifan-Zhu Chen, by Hou Yifan Efimenko-Malakhov, by Efimenko Karjakin-Onischuk, by Karjakin Hou Yifan-T.Kosintseva, by T.Kosintseva Queen's Gambit Declined Nakamura-Nielsen, by Nakamura Slav Ljubojevic-Giri, by Giri Giri-Van Wely, by Giri Ivanchuk-Leko, by Ivanchuk Queen's Gambit Accepted Eljanov-Tkachiev, by Eljanov Catalan Gelfand-Giri, by Giri Nielsen-Giri, by Giri Nimzo-Indian Shirov-Kramnik, by Timman King's Indian Larsen-Timman, by Timman Queen's Pawn Nakamura-Giri, by Nakamura English Opening Giri-Svidler, by Giri