Source: Chessbase

We informed our readers in a July report that this could happen. Now Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has, in his own words, "requested not to be considered for another term as head of the Republic of Kalmykia" – where he has served as President since 1993. From now on he wants to devote his attention fully to FIDE, which he has served since 1995. Statements and press reports.

"I am proud to be a part owner of Yes Games AS and an ambassador to Chess Attack. I was excited to find out about the new game "Chess Attack", which in my opinion is perfect for both grown ups and kids and greatly adapted to modern times. Chess Attack offers portability, innovation and shorter playing times, while retaining all the values of chess, such as the same pieces being used, and same playing rules. Chess Attack stimulates thought, is easy to learn, so even kids can start playing it minutes after they take it out of the box". - Alexandra Kosteniuk

See the Full Press Release Here.

The following press release only really interests me because I received it via e-mail ... and I just love getting e-mails.

Lev Altounian wins Third Consecutive Arizona State Championship

For the third consecutive year, International Master Lev Altounian from Tuscon, Arizona captured the Arizona State Championship. Lev finished with a 5-1 score in the 12-player closed tournament, which was held over the Labor Day weekend at the beautiful Unity Chess Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Second place went to Arizona Scorpions Team Manager, National Master Leo Martinez, just a half point behind Lev, despite his low seed in the event. Leo is also from Tuscon, Arizona. And, sitting in third place was FM Pedram Atoufi with a final score of 4-2. Pedram is the owner of the host site, Unity Chess Club, and lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The tournament was a joint production of many chess organizations, including Valley Chess, Unity Chess Club, Arizona Chess Federation, Inc. (ACFI), American Chess Events (ACE), and the Internet Chess Club (ICC). The event was directed by Rick Smouse.

Here are a few games from the event.

IM Lev Altounian (2536) - FM Robert Rowley (2200)
[A05] 2009 Arizona State Chess Championship, Scottsdale, AZ (Round 1), 09/05/2009
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 g6 4.c3 Bg7 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 0–0 7.Nc3 d5 8.Ne5 e6 9.0–0 Nfd7 10.f4 Nxe5 11.dxe5 Nc6 12.e4 Qb6+ 13.Kh1 d4 14.Na4 Qc7 15.b3 Rd8 16.Ba3 Bf8 17.Bxf8 Kxf8 18.Rc1 Bd7 19.Nc5 b6 20.Nd3 Rac8 21.f5 Qb8 22.fxg6 hxg6 23.Qf3 Be8 24.Qf6 Nb4 25.Rxc8 Qxc8 26.Nxb4 d3 27.Nd5 exd5 28.e6 White wins 1–0

Vaishnav Aradhyula (2232) - IM Lev Altounian (2536) [B07]
2009 Arizona State Chess Championship, Scottsdale, AZ (Round 2), 09/05/2009
1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.e4 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.h3 Bh5 6.g4 Bg6 7.Qe2 d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Bg2 e6 10.0–0 Nd7 11.Ne4 Qc7 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bh4 Nf4 14.Qe3 Nxg2 15.Kxg2 Bd6 16.Nxd6+ Qxd6 17.c4 Qb4 18.d5 0–0 19.dxe6 Rfe8 20.Qd4 Nf8 21.a3 Qa4 22.exf7+ Bxf7 23.Ne5 Rxe5 24.Qxe5 Ng6 25.Qg3 Bxc4 26.Rfd1 Bd5+ 27.Kh2 Rf8 28.Rd3 Qc2 29.Kg1 Nxh4 30.Rad1 Nf3+ 31.Kf1 Bc4 Black wins 0–1

FM Danny Rensch (2432) - FM Pedram Atoufi (2322)
[C41] 2009 Arizona State Championship, Scottsdale, AZ (Round 2), 09/05/2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Be2 0–0 7.0–0 Re8 8.b3 h6 9.Bb2 Bf8 10.Qd3 Na6 11.Nf5 g6 12.Ng3 Nc5 13.Qd2 Bg7 14.f3 h5 15.a4 h4 16.Nh1 a5 17.Rad1 Nh5 18.Nf2 Ne6 19.Bc4 Nef4 20.Ng4 Qg5 21.h3 Be6 22.Bxe6 Rxe6 23.Rf2 f5 24.Bc1 fxg4 25.fxg4 Rf8 26.Rdf1 Ng3 27.Rxf4 Qc5+ 28.R1f2 Rxf4 29.Qxf4 Rf6 30.Qe3 Rxf2 31.Kxf2 Bd4 Black wins 0–1

FM Pedram Atoufi - David Adelberg (2196) [B85]
2009 Arizona State Chess Championship, Scottsdale, AZ (Round 4), 05/06/2009
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e6 7.0–0 Be7 8.f4 Nc6 9.a4 0–0 10.Be3 Qc7 11.Kh1 Re8 12.a5 Nxa5 13.e5 dxe5 14.fxe5 Qxe5 15.Bf4 Qc5 16.Na4 Qa7 17.Be3 Bd8 18.Nf5 b6 19.Nd6 Rf8 20.Rxf6 gxf6 21.Bh6 f5 22.Ra3 f4 23.Qd4 f6 24.Qxf4 e5 25.Qg3+ Kh8 26.Bxf8 b5 27.Nc5 Nc6 28.Ncb7 White wins 1–0

FM Robert Rowley (2200) - FM Pedram Atoufi (2322) [D00]
2009 Arizona State Chess Championship, Scottsdale, AZ (Round 6), 05/07/2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Nh5 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 Bg7 7.e3 0–0 8.Be2 g5 9.Ne5 gxh4 10.Bxh5 Bf5 11.Qf3 e6 12.0–0–0 Nc6 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.g3 Rb8 15.gxh4 Qe7 16.a3 Kh8 17.Rhg1 Qxh4 18.Bg4 Bh7 19.Qg3 Qf6 20.Be2 c5 21.Bd3 cxd4 22.exd4 Bg8 23.Qxc7 Qxd4 24.Bh7 Qxf2 25.Bxg8 Qe3+ 26.Kb1 Bxc3 27.Rg3 Rxb2+ 28.Ka1 Rxc2+ 29.Qxc3+ Qxc3+ Black wins 0–1

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Source: Susan Polgar's Chess Blog