Chess News [chessgames.com]

April has been a busy month for chess. Here are just some of the latest happenings in the chess world:

• The latest FIDE rating list (03/2010) has been released. Magnus Carlsen retained the top position, ahead of Veselin Topalov. Topalov's Linares performance isn't included, but even if it had been, it still wouldn't have been enough to overtake Carlsen.
  
  
• Philadelphia Open
  - The replacement for the popular Foxwood Open, the Philadelphia Open attracts some of the biggest names in USA chess. It was won by Gata Kamsky
  , beating out prodigy Ray Robson, Alexander Stripunsky, Alexander Shabalov, and others.
  
  We are also proud to announce that GM Kamsky is now a member of Chessgames.com; fans of this world-class grandmaster can converse with him directly on his player page. He posts under the screen-name DarkNolan
  .
  
  
• 2010 Amber Rapid/Blindfold Tournament
  - The idea of Dutch billionaire and chess lover Joop von Oosterom, the Amber Tournament is one of the most unusual formats in modern chess. Two events take place concurrently: one in which the time controls are severely limited, and another in which the players are not allowed the luxury of seeing the board. Who would take place in such a crazy event? With a prize fund of €216,000, the biggest names in chess: Ivanchuk, Carlsen, Karjakin, Svidler, Aronian, Gashimov, Gelfand, Grischuk, Ponomariov, Dominguez, and Smeets!
  
  In the blindfold section, a blunder in the last round cost Carlsen his queen and his lead, leaving Grischuk as clear first place. In the rapid section, Ivanchuk and Carlsen shared top honors, a full 1.5 points ahead of the rest of the pack.
  
  
• Russian Team Championships
  - The 17th Russian Team Championships saw ShSM-64 of Moscow (Gelfand, Karjakin, Wang Hao, Caruana, et al) as clear winners with 16/18 possible match points.