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.

Super Final R4: Kasparov misses win, Grischuk doesn't

11/18/2004 – There was plenty of drama on two boards today in the Russian Championship. First 60-year-old Vitaly Tseshkovsky hung on well against super-GM Alexander Grischuk, 39 years his junior, only to spoil it at move 55. And Garry Kasparov overlooked a simple win to draw against rooky Alexander Motylev. Flash report...

Super Final R3: Favourites Svidler, Morozevich falter

11/17/2004 – Alexander Morozevich is having a bad tournament; after losing with white in round two he lost again today, to 60-year-old Vitaly Tseshkovsky. Peter Svidler, who has won more Russian championships than anyone else, lost with white to 19-year-old Artyom Timofeev. Garry Kasparov had a free day. Here are games, results, and an interview with Anatoly Karpov.

Jacob Aagaard: Basic Positional Ideas

11/17/2004 – Positional chess is the basis for success in the game. Of course material and points can be won by tactical measures, but first you have to bring the relevant positions up on your board. Here's a multimedia DVD by IM Aagaard, whom you can also listen to live on Playchess.com in our new Glasgow Chess Radio...

Fighting chess in St Petersburg

11/16/2004 – Just 29% of the 800 games were drawn, and only 3.4% in less than 20 moves. Maybe the Chigorin Memorial in St Petersburg did not have the biggest names, but it showed that a strong open can provide emotions, tragedies, brilliancies and sensations. We bring you the games and an extensive illustrated report by Misha Savinov.

Junior chess in God's own country

11/16/2004 – The enjoyment of chess tournaments, for the players and for the spectators, depends to a great degree on the venue. If it is drab and urban the mood is soured. But locate it, as they did for this year's Junior World Championship (starting November 18), on the south-west coast of India, and you can succeed spectacularly. Here's a teaser...

Super Final R2: Dreev beats Morozevich

11/16/2004 – Alexander Morozevich is a player who, on a good day, can beat anyone or anything in the world. But he can also have very bad streaks. In round one he spent seventy moves trying to win with the black pieces against Epishin; today he lost with white against Dreev. The other games were drawn. Here's a report on a memorable press conference...

The Budapest Gambit

11/15/2004 – This is an underplayed opening at amateur level, but the Budapest has claimed a number of strong GM vicitms in recent years. In his Monday night lecture Dennis Monkroussos on Playchess.com illustrates the most important ideas with an early game between Rubinstein and Vidmar.