GM Michele Godena and IM Frank Holzke have both scored three consecutive wins to join the group of players tied on 4th-13th place. Grandmasters Peter Heine Nielsen, Lars Schandorff and Igor Khenkin were also successful, other top games finished in draws.

Already first round saw a big upset when 13-years old Norwegian (sounds familiar?) held favorite GM Igor Khenkin to a draw

Susan Polgar: As you know, Women’s Chess is a subject very dear to my heart and I am working very hard to promote chess for young female players in America. I am glad to see many strong young female players today and I hope to see many more earning the grandmaster title and breaking the 2600 rating mark in the near future.

FIDE ethics commission organizes hearing on the Danailov – Topalov actions during and after the WCC in Elista 2006. The topics covered will be the cheating accusations, the interview in ABC, and using the scandal as psychological attack during Elista.

Among the many side-events during the 2007 Politiken Cup, simuls with the Grandmasters are catching serious attention. Already 52 seats of 75 available have been taken.

Grandmaster Maxim Sorokin died yesterday in Elista hospital, several days after an auto crash on the road Elista.

First semifinal match is Vishy Anand against Ruslan Ponomariov. All four games, with time rate 20 minutes + 10 sec increment for all moves, will be played today