The year 2009 chess news are dominated by the chess prodigy Sergey Karjakin. He won convincingly the Corus 2009 Grand Slam event in January, applying interesting preparation novelty. Later the same year he won the match The World vs Azerbaijan.

On July 24th Karjakin was again on top of the news wave as he married WGM Kateryna Dolzhykova in a ceremony in Kiev.

At the beginning of 2009 Karjakin decided to move to Russia and join the Russian Chess Federation. A few months later he filed the documents for the federation change. The official decision is a fact, Sergey Karjakin is now player and citizen of Russia. The document was signed on July 25th personally by the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

News via e3e5.com

Letters to the Editor
by GM Alex Baburin

Dear Alex,

I'd like to share some observations regarding the tournament in Nalchik. First, there are several no-shows besides the six Georgians. There is one player with a Dutch-Georgian name who forfeited to Zatonskih. There is Krush (why?) and Sebag (why?). The Georgian-German Kachiani showed.

Second, organisers had many days' warning of the Georgian no-shows. For the 64-K.O. format it was obviously necessary to induct replacements, of whom Russia & Ukraine boast many candidates. But then it would have been necessary to change the pairings at the last minute, and some player would have protested that she had prepared for the wrong opponent. Tough!

Third, the decision to forfeit S. Foisor, who overstepped in a speed game with K + N vs. Socko's K + N. In an incredibly literal reading of the rule, it was decided that a poor player could get herself mated! Not so, self-mate requires skill! This also applies to positions with K + B vs. K + B (opposite squared) and K + N vs. K + B.

So if Foisor had only a king, it would have remained a draw. You can get mated by K + N too vs. your. K + R. What would the appeal committee have decided if Foisor had a rook?

Monica Socko too showed poor sportsmanship.

What a bloody mess! The organisers have achieved their own self-mate. Not, of course, as bloody as the squares of South Ossetia.

Yours,
Anthony Saidy, IM