It's a little slow in the chess world, in the lead-up to the Candidates next month, but there's enough going on for a little blogging. We begin with an opinion piece (sort of) defending Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. (I previously mentioned the controversy in this recent post.)
Two nota benes: first, my linking to this article doesn't necessarily mean I agree with it, wholly or in part; second, I don't want to start a political fight in the combox. I'm only offering this link as an FYI.