Championship of China: Cochrane Gambit

The below game is from the Chinese Championship.  If you play the Russian Game as Black, you must be prepared for the Cochrane Gambit.  The sacrifice is not as speculative as it appears and White often gets full compensation for the piece, as in this game.  Black plays the relatively rare 5...c6 and White plays a nice novelty, 7.f4.

Anand Flexes A Little at Corus: Petroff's Defense

Kramnik has been in good form, so it's a bit of a surprise when he crashes behind the wheel of a Petroff. Tip of the hat to Anand, who got just the kind of game and result he needed here at the end of Corus and in preparation for Topalov (not that we'll see the opening again in the World Championship). Up to now, it's been a pretty lackluster performance by the World Champion, even if perhaps excusable. So, Carlsen is in command going into the final day--nothing new there. Tomorrow, though, will be young Caruana's biggest day as a chess player thus far. He has the black pieces in the last round of one of the world's finest chess tournaments, and the world number 1 will be playng to win on the other side. Play well--the world is watching!