Everyone wants to know: "Will there still be a Kramnik-Topalov match?" And if not, whose side will FIDE take? BREAKING NEWS: Saturday, Sept.30's game postponed till further notice. No answer yet on how FIDE will get both Topalov and Kramnik back on board.
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Greg Shahade

On Monday, September 25, U.S. League comissioner Greg Shahade made his first appearance at a match. He answered questions, GM Pascal Charbonneau showed a game, while fans and supporters ate cake and waited for the Seattle-New York showdown. Read more on Jennifer's Blog.
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GM Joel sounds off on whether or not Game 30 is real chess , and if it's ok to watch your opponent's clock tick down if she forgets to push her clock.
E-mail your own questions to Joel!
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Three rounds into the World Championship in Elista,Russia (Sept.21-October 13) Vladimir Kramnik is leading 2.5-.5 over Veselin Topalov. UPDATE: Kramnik is leading 3-1 after a solid Round 4 draw.
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Irina in Israel

Irina Krush blogs from Israel and the World Blitz Championship (Sept 5-8). Irina writes about taking the bus, late Tel Aviv nights, and Israeli gratitude for touristic bravery. She also focuses on the games of tournament winner Alexander Grischuk and surprise ICC qualifier, American GM Dmitry Gurevich.
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Four weeks into the U.S. Chess League, two teams, Seattle and Boston are 4-0. Meanwhile, the New York Knights crawled back onto the scoreboard with a 2.5-1.5 victory. Check out USCL week 4 highlights along with a detailed Knights recap on Jennifer's Blog.
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JS

IM elect Emory Tate annotates a loss against Aleks Wojtkiewicz (1963-2006) from the 2006 World Open, where Aleks tied for first and Emory earned his final IM norm. Emory praises Wojt's play as reminiscent of Tal...In reference to his ugly middlegame position, Emory said, "I have many styles, but this isn't one of them."
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JS

Dr.Alexey Root, senior lecturer at University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and author of Children and Chess is at the forefront of chess education in America. She tells CLO about the benefits of online chess education classes, the thrills of recruiting IMs as far as Zambia and India and why she supports separate women's tournaments.
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The Southern Californian Open had the largest prize fund of all the Labor Day opens. Photo Chuck Ensey

All around the country, from Alaska to Oklahoma, GMs and amateurs gathered for labor day regional championships. With the ease of air-travel and so many super-sized chess extravaganzas, it's refreshing to see so many of our best playing for state honors. CLO brings you results and snapshots from Albany to Dallas along with a longer dispatch from Chuck Ensey of the Southern Californian Open.
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GM Joel weighs in on a Sicilian sideline, 5...Bd7, showing two of his own games against the champion of unorthodox openings, GM Vadim Zvaginsev. E-mail your own questions to Joel!

Photo JO

Chess in Manhattan buzzed last week. David Shenk read from his new book, the Immortal Game, the Banker's League kicked off, and the New York Knights featured its first GM vs. GM face-off. But it was no cake-walk for the Knights, who went down 3.5-.5 against the Baltimore Kingfishers. For details on all of the above, read Jennifer's blog.
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The first edition of Chess Life Online's Top Ten Lists begins with a twist. We only posted 9 Things not to tell your opponent after the game. We challenge CLO readers to come up with the tenth.
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Todd Andrews. Photo Jessie Sims

FM Todd Andrews, 2006 Tennessee State Champion blogs about the busiest season ever for Tennesee chess. He takes us through the pain of the Tennesee Tempo's 0-4 debut, and the glory of winning his second state championship in a row.
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On her blog, web-editor Jennifer Shahade publishes her best letters from the summer. Among the letters are complaints and kudos on specific articles, a report from the Virginia State Championship and technical questions. She also gets you up to date on some changes in Chess Life Online. Send your own comments and questions for Jennifer to jshahade@uschess.org.
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Joe Bradford snags the 2006 Senior Open (Aug.27-Sept.1) title! But will he get to play in the next U.S. Championship? FM Todd Andrews discusses this and analyzes key games in CLO's final Senior Open report.

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Photo H.Rumph Jr.

GM Joel analyzes one lucky Chess Life Online reader's game ,
and reveals his thoughts on speed chess.
Send your own questions for GM Joel to AskGMJoel@uschess.org.
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