Returning to the 'scene of the crime'

11/30/2004 – Twelve years ago Boris Spassky played a match against Bobby Fischer in Yugoslavia. That got Fischer into a lot of trouble, while for Spassky, a French citizen, there were no repercussions. Now the tenth world champion returned to Belgrade to open the Belgrade Chess Trophy. Quick interview...

The return of Gata Kamsky

11/29/2004 – After eight years of moon-lighting with a university career chess prodigy Gata Kamsky has returned to chess and is currently playing at the US Championship. In his Monday night Playchess.com lecture Dennis Monkroussos looks back ten years, when Gata was a leader of the pack of youngsters, turning the chess world upside down.

A kiss for the champ

11/29/2004 – The Paul Keres Memorial in Tallinn saw six GMs participating in a rapid chess round robin tournament. it was won in convincing style by Vishy Anand, who scored a dry 5/5 points. For this he got a kiss from the president of the Estonian Chess Federation. We bring you games, results and a memorial to Paul Keres.

Pähtz/Korbut, Harikrishna/Zhao poised for victory

11/29/2004 – The Junior World Championships in Cochin, India, is in it final stages. Pental Harikrishna and Zhao Jun lead in the boys' section – with amazing 9½ out of 12. In the girls' section the gold medal will go to either Elisabeth Pähtz (picture) or Ekaterina Korbut. Last round tomorrow...

Super Final R11: Kasparov wins title by 1½ points

11/27/2004 – The Super Final of the 57th Russian Championship ended with a very convincing victory by Garry Kasparov, who finished a point and a half ahead of the field with a performance rating of 2855. The last round was well fought on all boards, with three decided games reshuffling the midfield. Here's the final stand, games and some interesting statistics.

Super Final R10: Grischuk loses, Kasparov clinches title

11/26/2004 – After ten rounds of the 57th Russian Championship Super Final the winner is already clear: Garry Kasparov leads with 7.0 points from nine games and a performance rating of 2877. His closest rival, Alexander Grischuk, lost his game today and now joins Dreev, who won, at 5.5/9. Games and results...

Impressions of the Super Final

11/25/2004 – The Russian Championship is almost over, the games have been exciting and hard-fought. After initial problems with the organisation things have been running well, with spectators and journalists having a great time. Misha Savinov, who has been observing the players and the games in Moscow, sends us an extensive illustrated report.

The Sacred Urns of Dagobert Steinitz

11/25/2004 – Paul Hoffman, book author, TV commentator and chess writer, also moonlights as a paradoxologist: an inventor of puzzles and composer of mysteries. As part of a $50-million Internet and TV ad campaign for the Sharp Corporation, Paul has now set up a virtual treasure hunt for a set of mysterious urns. This is how you can join the search...

Battle of the Sexes: 1-0 for the women

11/25/2004 – The 2005 US Championship has started in San Diego, California. 64 players have qualified, 49 men and 15 women, who all play in the same group. In the first round reigning champion Alex Shabalov lost to WGM Anna Zatonskih for the first sensation of the championship.

Super Final R9: Kasparov wins again, increases lead

11/25/2004 – Round nine brought us a single drawn game (in 56 moves), while four were decided in exciting encounters. Peter Svidler was stopped by Alexander Motylev wielding the black pieces; Grischuk won a rare Caro Kann line, and Morozevich defeated Korotylev in a queen ending. Kasparov won his fourth game in a row to take a commanding lead.

From Momentoo: Faces of Calvià

11/24/2004 – At the Chess Olympiad in Calvià we met the Dutch photographer Fred Lucas, the man with the Big Lens. The man who disdains flashes and works mainly with available light. As usual Fred took some of the best pictures we have seen from the event. Here is a small selection of the Faces of Calvià.

Super Final R8: Kasparov defeats Svidler

11/24/2004 – Today we saw exciting chess, with two well-fought draws and three decided games. Korotylev beat youngster Timofeev, Motylev sacrificed an exchange to defeat veteran Tseshkovsky. But the most critical encounter was Kasparov vs Svidler, in which the former continued his winning streak to gain a commanding lead in this tournament. Games and results...

Chess in the Arizona desert

11/23/2004 – What does GM Gregory Kaidanov, America’s strongest grandmaster do between playing the Chess Olympiad and the U.S. Championship? He teams up with prolific chess author IM Jeremy Silman to lecture, do game analysis, play blindfold exhibitions and multi-board simuls – all to inspire and energize the kids to better chess at the Phoenix Scholastic Championship.

Aagaard & Shaw: current events in chess

11/23/2004 – On the Wednesday evening lecture live on Playchess.com our Glasgow Chess Radio, represented by IMs Jacob Aagaard & John Shaw, will again discuss current events in chess. This includes the Four Nations Chess League in Great Britain, also known as the 4NCL, which was played this weekend. And of course the ongoing Russian Championship.

A letter from Makro

11/22/2004 – Two days before the start of the 57th Russian Championship Super Final in Moscow a press conference was held in which Garry Kasparov spoke defensively about the prospects of his up-coming reunification match against Rustam Kasimdzhanov actually being staged. Now FIDE deputy Georgios Makropoulos has sent us a reply to Kasparov.

Super Final R7: Kasparov, Svidler win

11/22/2004 – Two quick draws, one monumental struggle, and two decided games – not bad for round seven of the Russian Championship. Peter Svidler was relentless against Alexey Korotylev, while Garry Kasparov looked as if he was in a spot of trouble against his elderly opponent Vitaly Tseshkovsky. Take a look at how the world's number one turned it around...

Karpov vs Sadvakasov in Astana

11/21/2004 – Two weeks ago there was an interesting match between young Kazakh Darmen Sadvakasov and ex world champion Anatoly Karpov. We did not cover it since the organisers bizarrely withheld the first 20 moves of each game. Now Darmen has sent us a report and pictures, with some minor technical problems to solve in his well-annotated games.

The Polugaevsky Variation

11/21/2004 – Saturday would have been the 70th birthday of a man famous for his incredibly deep opening preparation and inventor of the insane variation of the Najdorf that bares his name. In his Monday night Playchess.com lecture Dennis Monokroussos introduces us to Lev Polugaevsky, whose love for the game was truly contagious. Enjoy!

Super Final R6: Kasparov, Motylev win

11/21/2004 – In a monumental, filigree endgame, a piece up against three pawns, Garry Kasparov overcame the resistance of Alexey Dreev, replacing him at the top of the table. Vladimir Epishin gave up an exchange with Black and went down to the talented 25-year-old Alexander Motylev. Games and results

Super Final R5: Dreev joins Grischuk at the top

11/20/2004 – Alexey Dreev demolished Alexey Korotylev today to join Grischuk at the top of the Table in the Russian Championship. Both have 3.5/5. Bareev beat Vitaly Tseshkovsky in 29 moves with a French Defence. The other games were drawn. So far exactly 30% of the games have ended with decisions, with very few unfought draws. Here is our flash report.

ChessBase 9.0 – a media system to teach you chess (4)

11/20/2004 – You can learn chess by reading text – people have done this for a thousand years. But now ChessBase 9.0 brings you vivid multimedia lessons, recorded in the high quality by the greatest players and teachers on the planet. Will we ever be able to go back to simple chess notation? Part four...

Magnus comes to town

11/19/2004 – He is just 13, and currently the youngest grandmaster in the world. He plays in strong tournaments and had Kasparov on the ropes in a game. Magnus Carlsen, Norwegian wonderboy, is an international chess celebrity. Now a book is out, written by his trainer GM Simen Agdestein and available in three languages, explaining the phenomenon.

Anjelina has a home for you

11/18/2004 – Looking for a place to stay? Something really, really nice? Well, here's a modern house in the mountains of Tucson, Arizona, with all the high-tech goodies you could ever want. It has been put on the market by a many times US women's chess champion, who is working in Tucson as a real estate agent. You may find it is a bit pricy, but then again you may want to snap it up on Ebay.

Super Final: Few draws, no tickets

11/18/2004 – The final phase of the 2004 Russian Championship is under way, three rounds are over and round four has just begun. Directly from the venue comes a report by someone who walks and talks with the players, hangs out in the pressroom and palavers with the dignitaries. We share with you Misha Savinov's first-hand impressions.