Queen of the king's game in Queens

3/10/2004 – GM Susan Polgar's Chess Center had a gala re-opening at its spectacular new location in New York City. VIPs came from all over for the festivities and an inaugural blitz tournament, won by WGM Rusa Goletiani. Of course we were there since there was the promise of free food. Between bites we talked with the proud owner about her plans and the culture of chess development in the USA. Read on.

What to do about the Sicilian – Part II

3/8/2004 – Still not sure how to handle those pesky 1...c5 players? Last week Dennis Monokroussos showed us a relatively theory-free way to counter the Najdorf. This week on his Playchess.com lecture Dennis looks at some great historical games on the subject. Learn and enjoy!

Linares 14: Vallejo holds Kasparov; Kramnik clear first

3/8/2004 – Vladimir Kramnik took clear first in Linares for the first time. He got a short draw and then watched as Vallejo defended against Kasparov for over five hours in an interesting game. 79% of the games were drawn in Linares this year, many of them in under 25 moves, including seven by the tournament winner. Full report and analysis now up!

'Male grandmasters respect me'

3/7/2004 – At 12 years and four months Kateryna Lahno became the world's youngest female grandmaster. Today, at the ripe age of 14, she has hit 2500 Elo points and is working on a male GM title. In an interview with the magazine "All Sports" and the web site "Chess Ukraine" Katja shares with us the realities of being a young person in the limelight.

Linares 13: Radjabov wins again; Kasparov misses a win

3/5/2004 – Why isn't this man smiling? Because he missed another chance to join the lead. 13 wasn't lucky for the 13th world champ. Topalov held him to a draw in a spectacular game. Radjabov beat Shirov to finish even. Don't miss the live audio commentary and trivia contest during the final round on Friday at Playchess.com. Report and analysis

Zero to sixty in 4.7 GHz

3/5/2004 – Do you always want to have "the baddest car in the valley" when it comes to your chess machine? What do NASCAR, computer chess, and combat robotics have in common? The answer depends on whom you ask. If you ask columnist Steve Lopez, you'll get a rant like this week's ChessBase Workshop.

The greatest chess puzzle

3/4/2004 – Where and when did chess originate? This is a question that has puzzled chess historians for centuries. Aryan Argandewal was confronted by it in, of all places, a Russian train, when a colonel with a disconcertingly pretty wife asked him to think about the origin of the game. Here are Aryan's conclusions.

Linares 12: Leaders draw, Radjabov scores first win

3/4/2004 – Wins at Linares 2004 have been very hard to come by and now Paco Vallejo is the only player without one. He lost to Radjabov and fell into last place. Kramnik-Kasparov lasted 17 moves, Topalov-Leko four more. Even if the games don't excite we'll have fun with our live trivia competition during our Radio ChessBase broadcast during tomorrow's games. Don't miss it! Report and analysis

The value of looking ahead

3/3/2004 – Too many correspondence players use opening trees as a crutch, letting the numbers do the thinking for them. This can have unexpected and unfortunate repercussions when a "bust" to a line appears in another move or two. Steve Lopez shares an ugly example from one of his own correspondence games in this week's ChessBase Workshop.

Linares 11: Leko falters against Kramnik

3/2/2004 – For the longest time it looked like Peter Leko would once again take a full point with the white pieces against his favourite opponent, Vladimir Kramnik. But on move 32 the young Hungarian stumbled and allowed Kramnik to spin a mating net. The other games were drawn. We bring you a report and pictures.

The oldest chess café in Amsterdam

3/2/2004 – It might be raining outside, wind blowing and snow falling, Amsterdam can be dark and foggy – but in the chess café called Gambit life is a game. Locals and traveling chess fanatics provide excitement and a pleasant company all year round. It was founded by Menase Goldberg 25 years ago. Aniko Kiss shows us around...

Aeroflot tournament – pictures from Russia

3/1/2004 – We did not get the games, which are still being kept in a safe in Moscow. But we can bring you exclusive pictures from the 2004 Aeroflot Open. Jean-Michel Péchiné of the French chess magazine Europe Echecs met a number of reigning and ex world champions, as well as new talents. Here are his pictorial impressions...

What to do about the Sicilian

3/1/2004 – Cross your heart, do you really enjoy plowing through the theory of the Najdorf Sicilian? How about a sound, positional approach to meeting the Najdorf – but with a drop of venom in it? Dennis Monokroussos tells you all about it tonight on his Radio ChessBase lecture...

Linares 10: Topalov beats Shirov, quick draw by Kasparov

2/29/2004 – The bravest player in this tournament and, with Kasparov, the biggest fighter, Veselin Topalov today defeated the fiery Latvian Alexei Shirov. Garry Kasparov clearly hadn't overcome his disappointment in the previous round and, with Luis Rentero watching, let Peter Leko off with a 19-move draw. We bring you a report and pictures.

A tale of two cities

2/28/2004 – Recent reports are true. In an interview with the Russian Sport Express FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has confirmed that the next FIDE world championship will be held in Tripoli, Libya. He supplies interesting details. Meanwhile Itar Tass reports that in Kalmykia he is facing mounting political protest. More...

Linares 9: three more draws – but plenty of fight

2/28/2004 – Today's ninth round was dominated by the battle between the Baku boys. Garry Kasparov was determined to win with the black pieces and dutifully outplayed his young opponent in the endgame, only to drop the full point with a mistake right at the end. The other games were drawn. We bring you a report and pictures.

Linares 8: three draws – the death of chess?

2/27/2004 – Yesterday was apparently a freak accident, today Linares returned to normal, with all games drawn. One must mention that again it was Garry Kasparov's board where all the excitement was. With his opponent Alexei Shirov was pressing with the black pieces the world's number one had to fight for a draw. Here are results, games and pictures.

Standard strategical plans

2/26/2004 – Following the wishes of his online audience our GM trainer Dorian Rogozenko tonight will show different positions on standard strategical plans. This is the continuation of last week's lesson on strategy and positional chess. Watch Rogozenko's lectures every Thursday night on the Playchess server.

Linares 7: Three wins, Leko in the lead

2/26/2004 – Maybe they put something into the water? Just when everybody was getting used to the daily serving of lifeless draws, had the jokes about the lack of fighting spirit had been honed to stand-up class, the players suddenly burst into action and presented the world with three decided games in this round. More...

Linares 6: Shirov beats Radjabov

2/25/2004 – The second decided game in the Linares Super-GM tournament came in round six, with the proverbial firebrand Alexei Shirov sacrificing an exchange and then a piece to defeat the youngest participant, Teimour Radjabov from Baku. Topalov vs Kasparov was hard-fought but ended in a draw. We bring you games and results.

Linares 5: Three fighting draws (for a change)

2/24/2004 – Same procedure as in every round (almost). But at least today we can say that all three draws were hard-fought, with local hero Paco Vallejo and Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov pushing hard with the black pieces, while the top encounter Kasparov-Kramnik was a positional battle. We bring you analysis, report and pictures.

Game over, ChessBase and Uzbekistan draw

2/24/2004 – The match between GM Saidali Yuldashev and the Uzbek TV audience, heavily assisted by ChessBase.com visitors from all over the world, has ended in a draw. Jamshid Begmatov has interviewed the GM and takes a pictorial look back at an eventful game. We are waiting for your final comments and have prizes for the best submissions.

The Coalition checkmates the Axis of Evil

2/24/2004 – It's a chess with a difference. This one pits white pieces, led by one George W Bush, against black ones with a figure called Osama Bin Laden at their head. Each of the piece types is a well-know character, taken from the international "war on terror". The manufacturers are calling it the 'mother of all chess sets'

Chess at 40 degrees below zero

2/23/2004 – What does a wildlife biologist in the Northlands of Canada do when the temperature plunges to arctic levels? With blizzards howling outside there is nothing better than sipping a hot drink by a crackling fire, playing a game of chess against Fritz. Thank heavens the program is not as cruel as the weather. Merlin Cypher explains.