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The Tal Memorial chess tournament took place at Moscow. Ivanchuk won with a point to spare. Morozevich was displaying enormous strength early on but faded towards the close. Ivanchuk capped this tremendous show with a win in the blitz tournament as well. 34 games are played on two days!

The World Women's chess championship, which is being played on a knock out basis, has started. All the eligible Georgian players have withdrawn in protest. Some other players have also backed out. Most of the favorities including Humpy advanced although one of the favorities, Marie Sebag faced an embarassing exit at the hands of lowly rated Anna Gasik. Official site: http://nalchik2008.fide.com

There is a mad rush for the top chess position of the world. Ever since discussions on live ratings have started, chess fans have started following them more keenly than the FIDE ratings, which are published only once in 3 months. We feel that Wang Yue, with his clean style, will soon be pushing the top 5. Aronian will bounce back by next year. Ivanchuk continues his Yo Yo. Also impressive is Morozevich's rise. Even his old tormentor, Kasparov is all praise for his "fresh chess". Here are the current standings: 01 Anand 2798 02 Ivanchuk 2788 03 Carlsen 2787 04 Morozevich 2787 05 Topalov 2777 06 Kramnik 2772 07 Radjabov 2752 08 Aronian 2752 09 Leko 2747 10 Adams 2736 11 Wang Yue 2736 12 Mamedyarov 2731 13 Karjakin 2730 14 Kamsky 2729 15 Ponomariov 2727