Linares R5: Kasparov defeats Adams, takes lead

2/28/2005 – Garry Kasparov outplayed Michael Adams, seemed to lose the thread and head for a draw a pawn up in a queen and rook ending. But the world's strongest player proved what that adage means, using grim determination to grind down his British opponent. We bring you games, results and pictures in our round five report.

FIDE's latest unification plan

2/28/2005 – Word has come out from FIDE's recent Presidential Council in Tbilsi, Georgia. FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is now calling for a unification tournament to be held in Elista, Kalmykia. FIDE also appointed a new General Secretary and criticized the Spanish federation. Available details.

Linares R6: Anand pressures Kasparov, Topalov wins

2/28/2005 – Garry Kasparov was put under heavy pressure by the world's number two Vishy Anand, who was very close to winning his first classical chess game against his nemesis since 1995. But Kasparov defended well and the game was drawn. Francisco Vallejo lost a tactical melee against Veselin Topalov. Full report.

Monokroussos: a respite into sanity

2/27/2005 – After several weeks of crazy games, our Monday night Playchess lecturer Dennis Monokroussos takes a look at a masterpiece of the aggressive, positional chess. It is the style that made Anatoly Karpov the World Champion for years. Enjoy!

The future of Internet chess revisited

2/27/2005 – The recent ChessBase Workshop column "The Future of Internet Chess?" has generated a large batch of e-mail from our readers. Columnist Steve Lopez dips into the mailbag for a look at the responses. You can read our readers' comments (and Steve's replies) in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

My Aeroflot – a personal report

2/26/2005 – The Aeroflot Open is over, but its effects can still be felt. Hundreds of player attended, and new sponsors are coming in to continue the tradition in the coming years. Misha Savinov, who visited the event in Moschow, tells us the secret of its success and gives us his personal impressions of this great Russian tournament.

Accoona and women's chess

2/26/2005 – On Tuesday Accoona is staging a women's chess in NYC. In a new press release they give some background on women's chess, which has come a long way from the times when people thought the gentler sex may have trouble lifting the leaded, wooden chess pieces. No longer today...

Linares R4: Adams scores, Topalov lets Leko escape

2/26/2005 – British GM Michael Adams scored his first victory, against Vallejo, in Linares 2005. Veselin Topalov had a completely winning position after Peter Leko faltered in time trouble. But then Topalov made one false capture and allowed Leko to save the game with a deadly mate threat. Full illustrated report.

ChessBase Q&A

2/26/2005 – If you've got a burning question about using ChessBase software there's a place you can go for an answer. Who knows, maybe your question has already been answered. The latest ChessBase Cafe column covers video crashes, black lines on the board, handicap settings, and much more. Next question?

Rating for sale – buyer beware

2/25/2005 – Maybe money can't buy you love, but there are at least a few people out there who think it can buy you a high Elo. You won't believe what we found on Ebay UK today. Someone is actually trying to auction their Playchess.com account with a 2586 rating! Bidder, bidder?

Linares R3: Kasparov beats Vallejo with black

2/25/2005 – Garry Kasparov scored his first anxiously awaited win in round three of the Linares Super GM tournament, beating local boy Francisco Vallejo with the black pieces. Anand pressed briefly with black against Leko, Kasimdzhanov vs Adams was an uneventful draw. Full report.

Linares R2: Anand scores, Kasparov misses

2/24/2005 – Anand played his first game in round two and scored an endgame victory over Veselin Topalov. Garry Kasparov had excellent winning chances against Rustam Kasimdzhanov but blew it in the latter's time trouble. Full illustrated report.

Aeroflot Open: Sutovsky winner on tiebreak

2/24/2005 – In the final round of the Aeroflot Open in Moscow Andrei Kharlov lost to Vladimir Akopian, while Emil Sutovsky beat Sergey Volkov with the black pieces. This led to a five-way tie for first, with the tiebreaker favouring Sutovsky. A full illustrated report will follow. Results and games...

Fischer receives an Icelandic passport

2/23/2005 – Immigration authorities in Iceland have decided to issue full travel documents for former world champion Bobby Fischer, who is being held in Japanese detention for not possessing a valid passport. Fischer's new passport will be sent to Japan by diplomatic mail, and a delegation is traveling there to escort him to Iceland.

Aeroflot Open: Kharlov leads, Ivanchuk in hot pursuit

2/23/2005 – After eight rounds, with one to go, Andrei Kharlov has kept his lead with 6.5/10. But a ferocious game between Sutovsky and Ivanchuk saw the latter triumph with black to come within striking distance (together with Sergey Volkov. We bring you games, results, an extensive report and impressions of Moscow.

Linares 2005 begins: an historical review

2/23/2005 – The 22nd edition of the "Ciudad de Linares", a category 20 double round robin, beings in the Spanish city of Linares today. It includes Garry Kasparov, Vishy anand and Peter Leko. We bring you schedules, links to live coverage and, to get you into the mood, a review of the previous 21 events.

Radio ChessBase: Capelle vs. Aeroflot

2/23/2005 – Two giant opens, both at the same time – this was a real loss to chess players and of course for the tournaments themselves. IMs Jacob Aagaard and John Shaw will talk about both events on their live Playchess lecture, which is brought to you at 20.30 CET Wednesday evening.

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.