Pearl Spring 2009

Now that Kasparov and Karpov have finished blessing us all with some nostalgia and light entertainment in the name of charity (corrected blitz game scores now available here), the chess world's attention turns to serious matters once more.

The 2nd Pearl Springs tournament in Nanjing, China runs from 27 Sept - 9 Oct and follows the same double round-robin format of the inaugural event.

Last year's winner, and world #1 ranked player, Veselin Topalov (pictured) returns to defend his title against a totally different, but equally impressive field.

Topalov hasn't played since the Mtel Masters in May and will be keen to sharpen his skills in serious competition, albeit while keeping his powder dry in terms of his opening preparation for his much anticipated match with world champion Vishy Anand.

We will also get to see if Garry Kasparov's mentoring is having a positive impact on the already pretty awesome skills of his new-found protege, Magnus Carlsen.

The idiosyncratic official website can be found here.  Games start at 3pm local time.  Look out for coverage at Chess.com!