The Catalan Opening

7/9/2004 – The Catalan Opening, with its many transpositional possibilities, can be a real labyrinth to navigate through its myriad variations. Fortunately, Mihail Marin has provided us with the proverbial "ball of yarn" with his new Advanced training CD, Catalan E00-E09. We preview this valuable tool for players (and potential players) of the Catalan in this week's ChessBase Workshop.

FIDE WCC R7-2: Kasim in the lead

7/8/2004 – Learn to pronounce the name, find out where Uzbekistan is. Rustam Kasimdzhanov has won the second game in the final of the FIDE world championship in Libya. It was a tough Petroff with Michael Adams missing a chance to save the game on move 40. Illustrated report...

WCCC 04: Junior still in the lead

7/8/2004 – In round four of the World Computer Chess Championship in Ramat-Gan, Israel, all three favourites won their games convincingly, leaving the home team Junior in the lead with 3.5/4 points. There are two rounds on Thursday, which you can watch live on Playchess.com.

'I am always happy to try new formats'

7/8/2004 – While top GMs are playing for the FIDE world championship in Tripoli, the world's number two player Vishy Anand is watching the action as a spectator on the Internet. We asked him for his impression and got involved in a long and interesting discussion on the problems of draws and the future of chess. Something to think about...

FIDE WCC R7-3: Adams strikes back to equalise

7/8/2004 – The FIDE world championship final is wide open again after Britain's top seed Michael Adams fired back with a white win today against Uzbekistan's Rustam Kasimdzhanov, who had scored an upset victory yesterday. We bring you an illustrated report including some interesting pictures from the historical past of Libya.

FIDE WCC R7-1: The finals start with a draw

7/7/2004 – With US $170,000 at stake ($100,000 for the winner) the FIDE world championship went into its final stage on Tuesday, with an uneventful draw between second seed Michael Adams, 32, Elo 2731, and the "giant-killer" from Uzbekistan Rustam Kasimdzhanov, 24, Elo 2652. illustrated report...

WCCC 03: Junior leads, Fritz loses

7/7/2004 – The Israeli program Junior, apparently feeling quite at home in Gonda Brain Research Center in Ramat-Gan, Israel, played a nice attacking game in round three to defeat the Dutch program Diep and take the lead in the 12th World Computer Chess Championship. Fritz lost a winning position on time, Shredder drew against Jonny. More...

Getting the most out of your computer

7/6/2004 – Sure, that's what they are always promising. But here is a book that actually delivers. In "Modern Chess Analysis" Robin Smith, a player with excellent computer experience, shows us how to use chess engines to best effect. For tournament players and casual enthusiasts a book we warmly recommend.

FIDE WCC R6-5: Kasimdzhanov KO's Topalov in rapids

7/6/2004 – So much for the prognostications. After drawing four regulation games, Rustam Kasimdzhanov eliminated Veselin Topalov by winning both rapid tiebreak games. The Uzbekistani underdog will play Mickey Adams in the final match for the FIDE world championship title starting tomorrow. Photos and report here now.

Putting chess on the front page

7/6/2004 – China Communications Corporation, the company that sponsored the ACP tournament on Playchess.com, and is staging a match between women's chess champions, has announced a new kind of Internet search engine using Artificial Intelligence technology. The company is set to grow – and put chess on the front page.

WCCC 02: Dutch program Diep in the lead

7/5/2004 – The top favourites at the World Computer Chess Championship in Israel have still to find their stride. After two rounds Shredder and Junior have 1.5 points, Fritz has 1.0 (after two draws). In the lead is the Dutch program Diep with a clean 2.0. You can follow the games on Playchess, with live audio and video commentary.

Shredder to play in Argentina

7/5/2004 – Every year there is a big chess festival in Argentina, with strong GMs and IMs participating. In the past the organisers have spiced up the event by allowing a computer program to participate. The great media success has led to the continuation of this tradition, and this year our world champion chess program Shredder 8 will be one of the players. Details...

FIDE WCC R6-4: Tiebreaks for Topalov and Kasimdzhanov

7/5/2004 – Uzbek Rustam Kasimdzhanov has surprised the pundits by stopping the unstoppable Topalov. They drew their fourth semifinal game and will play rapid tiebreaks tomorrow to decide who moves on to face Mickey Adams. The Englishman drew comfortably against Radjabov to qualify for the finals for the first time. Analysis and photos.

Rook endings for the working chessplayer

7/5/2004 – Last week our Playchess.com trainer Dennis Monokroussos had every intention of examining the instructive endgame Kharlov-Nisipeanu. But the preliminaries were interesting enough to fill the lecture. Today Dennis gets to the meat and explains what really happened in the World Championship endgame.

Bookmark a game in ChessBase 8

7/5/2004 – Many ChessBase users run into situations where they want to "bookmark" a game for later retrieval. The usual solution is to use medals to mark games in the list. But there's another method: creating user keys and manually assigning games to them. We show you how in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

FIDE WCC R6-3: Then end is near for Radjabov

7/4/2004 – Will Sunday be the end for Baku teenager Teimour Radjabov? He couldn't capitalize on a superior position against Adams today and so will go into the fourth and final game needing a win with black to tie the match. Topalov and Kasimdzhanov drew a long game with mutually squandered chances. Who will go to the final and be guaranteed at least $70,000? Report and photos.

Russian Women battle it out in Kazan

7/4/2004 – Tired of all those men playing chess in the desert? Well here for a change in pace is the Russian Women's Championship with top female players competing for the title and a $50,000 prize fund in Kazan (Tatarstan). We explain where exactly that is and how the ladies are doing in our extensive illustrated report.

FIDE WCC R6-2: Slow day in Tripoli

7/3/2004 – Maybe the four remaining players in the FIDE world championship wanted to enjoy the chance to play a game that wasn't life or death. Both games were short draws. Kasimdzhanov will try to break the tie against Topalov tomorrow, while Radjabov needs a win to even the score with Adams. Photos and games.

FIDE WCC R6-1: Adams wins with black

7/2/2004 – Top seed Michael Adams of England took the lead in the FIDE semifinals, defeating 17-year-old Teimour Radjabov with a creative novelty in an open Catalan. On the other board Veselin Topalov drew against Rustam Kasimdzhanov in half an hour and fifteen moves of play. Here is our illustrated report and games.

16 Super-GMs top the list

7/2/2004 – The latest FIDE ratings has Kasparov leading, as he has done since time immemorial, followed by Vishy Anand. Kramnik is third, with place four being taken by Morozevich. Leko, Adams and Topalov are in hot pursuit, rank eight is occupied by a woman! So how have things changed over the last 21 years?

CD Sicilian Dragon 2 preview

7/1/2004 – In his preview of the new ChessBase training CD Sicilian Dragon 2, columnist Steve Lopez admits to receiving a pair of major shocks. What's so shocking about GM Dorian Rogozenko's CD? Read more about it in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

World Championship statistics: Topalov poised to win

6/30/2004 – After five rounds and two to go the four remaining players have considerably improved their chances of winning the title. Bulgaria's Veselin Topalov leads the field at 44%, followed by Michael Adams of England at 34%. Radjabov and Kasimdzhanov are at 13% and 9% respectively. Here are the latest statistics by Jeff Sonas.

I Want My Chess TV!

6/30/2004 – The Fritz Chess Media System is already in regular use for audio and video coverage of events and for lectures in Playchess.com. Now we are seeing the first CD products that use this great new video technology. Get a personal Grandmaster lecture as the pieces move around the board. Read on for more on this new technology in the latest ChessBase Cafe column.

FIDE WCC R5-2: How cool is this kid?

6/30/2004 – Teimour Radjabov and Lenier Dominguez looked content to play all night, but it had to end. It was after four tiebreak draws and past one in the morning when the 17-year-old from Baku drew the sudden death game with black to join Topalov, Adams, and Kasimdzhanov in the next round. The four-game semifinal matches begin Thursday. Report, photos, and games.