American Open co-winners IM David Pruess and GM Melikset Khachiyan. Photo Cathy Rogers

In the 42nd American Open(Los Angeles, Nov.24-26), a last round dogfight between Perelshteyn and GM Melikset Khachiyan ended in Khachiyan's favor, creating a tie for first place between Khachiyan and Samford Scholar IM David Pruess. GM Ian Rogers analyzes the most exciting games.
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The San Francisco Mechanics and The New York Knights face off tomorrow at 8:30 EST for the title of 2006 U.S. Chess League Champions. It's a match of young talents- the average age of the eight players is just 20 years old! Update: San Francisco wins USCL Championship in thrilling tiebreak victory. Full report coming soon.
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Hikaru Nakamura is back with a vengeance. His first outing since enrolling at Dickinson College was the National Chess Congress (Philadelphia, November 24-26) He started the top heavy event with a 5-0 sweep, ceding a draw to Zviad Izoria in the final round to win clear first in a field of 11 Grandmasters.
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Kramnik missed an unbelievably simple mate in one to lose the second game against Deep Fritz, giving the computer a 1.5-.5 lead. Backward knight moves are known to be difficult to see, but it is a shock to see a World Champion miss a one-mover of this kind.
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Courtesy of Deep Fritz-Kramnik sponsor, RAG Group

Vladimir Kramnik, fresh from his controversial match against Veselin Topalov is playing against Deep Fritz in Bonn, Germany. (Nov.25-Dec.2) Kramnik was White in the first game, but was unable to make headway. Game 2 is set for 9 AM EST Monday, when Fritz will have a try with White.
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New Orleans fixture Jude Acers remains in the city. Photo Tracie Morris Schaefer

Hurricane Katrina scattered New Orleans’ chess community, but the city’s top players and coaches are working hard to get themselves and their kids back in the game. This Holiday season, Michael Tisserand profiles New Orleans chess fixtures who lost almost everything.
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What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? CLO brings you the top ten for chessplayers.
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Fun in the K-3 Section. Photo Betsy Dynako.

400 children in four sections blitzed Atlanta for the first major event of the USCF Scholastic Calender. On top were four clear winners, Christopher Williams (K12), Hartley Chiang(K9), Kevin Wang (K6) and Venkat Tummala (K3). For games,a stunning photo gallery and details on a bughouse fiasco, read TD Betsy Dynako's full report.
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H.Rumph

Just a week before the highly anticipated Kramnik-Deep Fritz match (Nov.25-Dec.5), GM Joel ponders the ethics of using computers in published analysis.

Alex Onischuk, enjoying the Kalmykian countryside on a free day.

In the third and final installment of his Elista letter, Alex analyzes the last four games of the match as well as the tiebreak. He also reveals to us why team Topalov didn't bother to prepare for the playoff and his thoughts when it was all over.
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Check out Dr.Steven Dowd's premiere effort in bringing exciting problems to both solving aficionados and over-the-board players. This month's column includes a stunning miniature by Edith Baird, one of a few well-known female composers, a Samuel Loyd problem and a personal favorite of Dowd's.
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Photo H.Rumph

The toothless last round of the Tal Memorial raises the perennial question: How to stop short draws in chess? GM Joel considers the pros and cons of radical solutions such as the "BAP system" in his latest entry.

The New York Knights and the San Francisco Mechanics advanced to the playoffs with 3-1 victories against the Boston Blitz and the Seattle Sluggers. Read Jennifer's latest blog for details on this as well as upcoming events and contests.
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IM Justin Sarkar Photo Jennifer Shahade

IM Justin Sarkar prevailed over FM Andrew Boekhoff on tiebreak to win the Kings Island Open. Both defeated Grandmasters to get there. Todd Andrews reports on why he plays in Kings Island every year, how Justin won and the virtues of the French Defense.
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Photo Jennifer Shahade

For Jerry Hanken, the 2006 Chicago U.S. Open was his 40th straight U.S Open. He wrote the November Chess Life cover story. Check out his web exclusive bonus material .
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Topalov on a free day in highly supervised target practice.

In the second part of U.S. Champion Alex Onischuk's exclusive Elista letter, we learn about his thoughts on game 5, one of the most controversial in World Championship history. Alex also annotates Rounds 5-9, the golden games for Team Topalov in which they went from 1/4 to 5/9.
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