The top seeded GM Robert Kempinski will have the difficult task to face with black the progressing Indian WFM Swathi Mohota. GM Vorobiov, GM Markus, GM Tukmakov, GM Bobras GM Mista, GM Zagrebelny, and Im Robert Ris are all matched up against local players at the start.

Prestigious central venue, Edinburgh City Chambers, hosts the strongest ever Scottish Chess Championships 2009 which starts today, 11th July, with play taking place every day until 19th July. One of the oldest continually running chess events in the world, this international open welcomes strong players from countries as diverse as India and Slovakia.

The organizers of Nanjing Pearl Spring 2009 have made an important change in the previously announced lineup. GM Viswanathan Anand, current World Champion and number two in the rating list, will not attend the event. He will be substituted by the Hungarian grandmaster Peter Leko.

Exactly one of the player moving from thousands kilometers distance is heading the table. This is GM Gawain Jones, who is participating via the ChessCube platform from Melbourne. He has full 2,0/2 points and is sharing the lead woth 29 more players, among which GM Komarov (one of the seconds of Ruslan Ponomariov), IM Simutowe, GM Van Der Nat, IM Kobese, IM Mabusela, etc.

The strong Greek League 2009 has started in Halkidiki on the 3rd of July. It is one of the top teams competitions of Europe, featuring multiple grandmasters and a boasting number of 600 players.

Here are the results and standings of the Dortmund Sparkasse Chess Meeting 2009. Click on the links to replay the games with commentary.

The ChessCube SA Open 2009 will take place 3-11 July, 2009. In a world first for chess, some of the matches will be played online. This is a format many internet chess players have been waiting for – an online event being played simultaneously over 2 continents, yet officially recognized and rated by FIDE!

GM Bachmann, IM Cubas, FM Cornejo, and GM Zambrana lead the tournament.