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The Women Russian Championship 2009-Higher League has been held at Voronezh in June, 1-9. The participants were rather strong players who were aiming at qualifying for the Russian Women Chess Superfinal. A lot of players and only 5 to succeed - that guaranteed exciting chess struggles.
 

Elena Tairova won first 5 games in a row, and has spared only three draws in the remaining rounds. 1st place and 7,5 out of 9.
 

While Tairova convincingly occupied the top spot, other players have been battling for the other 4 qualifying places. Only the last two rounds have put an end to the fight: the silver medal went to Elena Zaiatz (7 out of 9), who, just like Tairova, hasn't lost a single game. Places 3-5 went to players who scored 6 points: Gunina (3rd), Stepovaia (4th), Manakova (5th). Gunina and Manakova had been especially fierce ladies -  they hadn't made any draws!
 

So, now we know the names of 10 participants of the Russian Women Chess Superfinal (it's usually a 12-player round robin). Five people who qualified from the Higher League (see above), 3 winners of Superfinal-2008 - Kosintzeva Nadezhda, Kosintzeva Tatiana and Anastasia Bodnaruk. Also top-3 Russian women players by FIDE rating: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Natalia Pogonina (Tatiana Kosintseva has already been mentioned, so someone else will take part). Therefore, the organizers will have to find 2 more players, or opt for a 10-player event. The Superfinal will be held from 16 to 30 of December, 2009.

Press "Read more" for chess episodes of the tournament

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If only they were married: GM Kasparov G (2851) – GM Polgar J (2735) = 5586

Natalia and I decided to compile a list of the strongest chess couples in the world who could become members of the honorary "5000+ Club".

The requirements for becoming a member are the following:

1)     Two chess players should be officially married (no girlfriend & boyfriend stuff)

2)     The sum of their peak FIDE ratings should be 5000 (!) or more

So, as of this day, we have the following list of of "5000+ Club" members:

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Many people don't consider chess to be a team sport. And this opinion has its reasons. Chess is a game between two people. There are no assistants, only you and your opponent. So a team match can also be viewed as a few separate confrontations. What is so special about team play then? Each for him/herself, so will the individualists say. 

But there is also a different point of view, which is supported by many people, including me. Chess has its own team play specifics. My opinion is based on other people's experience, as well as on my own. I have been playing in team events since I was a kid (and participated in the famous "White Rook" tournaments). Nowadays I play for the Russian chess team and various clubs. So I would like to tell you a bit about my take on team play and team spirit.

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When I was a kid, PCs weren’t that widespread yet, so books were our #1 choice when it came to chess studies. Of course, innovative technologies speed up the process of learning chess, but the old methods shouldn’t be totally neglected too. That’s why some of the books that I liked during my childhood are admired by me now not less than contemporary chess software.

The saying “a man is what he eats” can be applied to chess literature too – swallow a second-rate scribble written for the sake of earning easy money, and you may not only waste a lot of time, but form wrong perceptions of the game, its principles and players. On the contrary, some writers put soul into their books and try to do their best to help the readers increase their chess level and (importantly) gain pleasure during the process.

Thanks to the Internet and my home library, I have access to a few hundred chess volumes. Based on the popularity of such discussion topics as “what chess book should I read?” or “is this one any good?”, I decided to present to  you a short list of my favorite chess books. Here it goes:

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