Linares Round 1: Topalov draws first blood

2/23/2005 – While Garry Kasparov pushed hard with black against Peter Leko, Michael Adams was doing the same against Veselin Topalov. But whereas the first game ended in a draw, Topalov turned tables in the second and defeated Adams resoundingly. We bring you games and results, and a full illustrated report.

World Chess Beauty Contest

2/22/2005 – That is the title of a new chess "tournament", initiated by a crew that calls themselves the "blitz brothers". They have set up a research site to find the most beautiful (we assume female) chess players on the planet. The first participants have already started making their moves, and chess players all over the world are invited to submit "cool photos". Take a deep breath.

Shengelia and Brodsky win Cappelle-la-Grande

2/22/2005 – The biggest Open of the year, staged in the northern-most tip of France, ended with a victory for IM David Shengelia and GM Michail Brodsky, both of whom scored 7.5/9. The former made a GM norm, as did IM Monika Socko, who ended on place 11. We bring you results, the games that are available and pictures of the winners.

Live commentary – by the players, during the game!

2/21/2005 – This is a unique format: two grandmasters, Susan Polgar and Hikaru Nakamura, will play in separate rooms, exchanging their moves by radio transmission. During the game they explain to the audience what they are thinking and why they choose certain moves. Playchess.com will, if possible, cover the games and bring you the live audio commentary.

Joop van Oosterom's English Attack

2/21/2005 – The Dutch billionaire and chess patron recently won the 18th Correspondence Chess World Championship by a significant margin, using as his main weapon the English Attack of the Najdorf Sicilian – with both colors. In his Monday night Playchess.com lecture Dennis Monokroussos looks at a staggering idea on move 23 that refuted a novelty and won a key game. Enjoy!

Indian Chess Federation splits

2/20/2005 – Some weeks ago the General Secretary of the All India Chess Federation received a restraining order from the Madras High Court; then Mr N. Srinivasan took over his duties and appointed new officers. Now supporters of the previous leader have voted to instate one of his officers as president of the AICF. In the meantime the Commonwealth Championship at the end of the month had to be postponed. The turmoil continues.

Wijk aan Zee: once more with feeling

2/19/2005 – Remember the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee? This exciting event took place in January and spawned no less than fifteen densely illustrated reports on our chess news site. Today we return one more time to show you some extraordinary pictures taken by Dutch chess fan Siep Korteling. They include some startlying effects you shouldn't miss.

Final day at Cappelle-la-Grande

2/19/2005 – This year's Cappelle Open is once again one of the biggest and strongest of the year. 590 players from 52 countries, 78 GMs and 62 IMs, all gathered together in the northern French town. After seven of eight rounds the surprise leader is 41st seed Amir Bagheri of Iran.

Aeroflot Open: Sutovsky catches Kharlov at the top

2/19/2005 – Five rounds of the Aeroflot Open in Moscow have been played, and after a fourth-round loss by Ivanchuk it is Andrei Kharlov and Emil Sutovsky who have taken the lead. We still have only a selection of games, and no official progress table. But we have worked out the most important details for you and bring you extensive photographic impressions of Moscow.

Aeroflot Open: Ivanchuk and Kharlov lead

2/18/2005 – After three rounds of the Aeroflot Open in Moscow there are two players with a perfect 3:0 score: Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and Andrei Kharlov of Russia. You can watch the games live on the official site or on Playchess.com. Here is a selection of the games played so far, and some visual impressions.

'Too early to bury the unification'

2/17/2005 – With the reunification match between Kasparov and Kasimdzhanov on ice FIDE is on the offensive, with a press conference and an interview by the president. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is also the President of the Republic of Kalmykia, describes the background of negotiations and his expectations for the future with the Russian newspaper Sport Express.

Ilyumzhinov: reunification with or without Kasparov

2/16/2005 – Reunification is still on track, the match in Turkey will go ahead, for an increased prize sum of $1.65 million. That was the gist of a press conference held by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in Moscow yesterday. He has given Garry Kasparov a deadline until February 26 to agree to the conditions, otherwise another player will replace him.

Susan Polgar in Lifestyles Magazine

2/15/2005 – The former women's world champion is rapidly becoming America's biggest chess asset, an ambassador, patron and promoter of the game. In a long article Lifestyles Magazine describes her chess activities, her personality, views and, well, her lifestyle in general. We bring you excerpts, links and pictures from the photoshoot.

ChessBase 9's material balance display

2/15/2005 – According to Jeremy Silman, imbalances are the keys to understanding chess positions. That's why ChessBase products don't provide a mere "captured pieces" display -- they display the material balance of what remains on the board. Find out how to use this valuable feature in our latest ChessBase Workshop.

World championship of tournament chess

2/14/2005 – That is what Garry Kasparov once called the Linares super-GM, which begins in a week, featuring the world's numbers one, two and three. In his Monday night Playchess lecture Dennis Monkroussos whets our appetite for this event with one of Kasparov's most important wins.

Over 120 Grandmasters at Aeroflot Open 2005

2/14/2005 – It starts tomorrow, at 3 p.m. Moscow time = 13:00h European Central, 07:00h NY, the strongest Open in the world, with 515 confirmed participants, 123 of them Grandmasters. The games will be played in Europe's biggest hotel, the Rossja, in the center of Moscow, directly next to Red Square. You can watch the games live on the official site or on Playchess.com. Here are all the details.

The most aggressive chess program in the world

2/14/2005 – Chess programs are know for their tactical strength, their ability to outcalculate any human player. But there is one that is more aggressive than its colleagues, always searching for the most daring moves on the board. . Deep Junior is, according to Aryan Argandewal, perfect for sharpening your attacking style.

Breaking news: FIDE world championship in Ho Chi Minh City?

2/14/2005 – The Vietnam News Agency, Vietnamnet, is reporting that the 2005 World Chess Championship will be held at the end of the year in Ho Chi Minh City. "The National Committee for Sports and Physical Training and the HCMC People's Committee are organizing the event," writes the agency.

From Momentoo: Faces of Corus

2/12/2005 – During the Wijk aan Zee Chess Tournament players were periodically hijacked on their way to the hall, enticed into a special room. It was the photo studio of Fred Lucas, the photographer doing the visuals for the official web site. Remarkable work. Fred has selected twelve of his own favourites for a review of Wijk.

Mega Database 2005's Superkey

2/11/2005 – It's not just another key file -- in fact, we called Joachim Zunke's comprehensive new openings key the Superkey for good reason. See what makes this key different and learn how to use ChessBase 9 to navigate it in this week's ChessBase Workshop.

Old world sophistication, not rampaging rooks

2/10/2005 – When a magazine like Game Chronicles reviews a nerdy chess program you would expect a gigantic yawn. "When I began playing Fritz 8, I figured a jeans and T-shirt guy like me would hate it," admits reviewer John DeWeese, who also tried out our children's tutor Fritz & Chesster. See how he fared...

Caligula in Moscow

2/10/2005 – Garry Kasparov has once again lashed out at the Russian government, accusing President Vladimir Putin of behavior akin to that of the Roman emperor who appointed his stallion Incitatus a Consul in the Roman Senate. Kasparov warns that the patience of the Russian people is wearing thin. No mincing of words by the world's strongest chessplayer in this Wall Street Journal article.

Women can compete

2/10/2005 – At the recent US Championship a historic event went almost unnoticed. Chouchanik Airapetian became the first woman ever to receive a gender neutral invitation to the event. "Shoushan" predicts that in five years a woman will win the overall US Championship!

Harikrishna catches Gelfand in Bermuda

2/9/2005 – With a black win in the last round the young Indian talent Pentala Harikrishna was able catch Israeli GM Boris Gelfand, who had led for most of the t2005 Bermuda Invitational. The event was a six-player double round robin. We bring you games and pictures.