Live from New York, it's Garry Kasparov!

7/13/2003 – Like any author with a new book out Garry Kasparov is making the publicity rounds. We met with the author of "My Great Predecessors" at his hotel and logged in to the Playchess.com server for an hour of Q&A with 1500 online fans. We bring you an illustrated report of the session, including some portrait pictures by a budding young photographer.

Garry Kasparov Playchess.com chat transcript and photos

7/13/2003 – "This book is the most important thing I have done in chess other than winning my title in 1985." With that you know that this is no ordinary chess book. No "winning with.." or "secrets of..." here. The world's top player took questions and gave answers on the 300 years of chess history and development covered in his new series of books. Read on.

The most popular players in Europe

7/11/2003 – After the European Championships in Silivri, Turkey, we ran a poll asking our readers to study the games, results, tactical positions and pictures of the players and select their favourites. The response was overwhelming. After counting all the votes we present you with the winners. And with the many interesting, profound, funny and critical things people wrote in their entry forms. Here are the results.

'This one is a must-have!'

7/9/2003 – Pocket PC Magazine has reviewed a chess program in it's September issue. Author Doug Mackey, a 1421 rated chess player, obviously had a lot of fun with Pocket Fritz. "For $50, it will provide you many hours of entertainment and competition," he writes.

Icewalker grabs Champions Challenge

7/9/2003 – The first Champions Challenge, the new knock-out tournament for title holders on our server at www.playchess.com, became easy prey of Icewalker, a.k.a. Einar Gausel. The Norwegian grandmaster cooly swept away all opponents to rake in the prize of 2.000 ducats. Next Saturday we have the second edition, open to all Kings.

Gentlemen, life is not so easy!

7/8/2003 – A month ago there was a great deal of controversy between some of the players at the 4th European Championships in Istanbul, Turkey and the organisers. A protest letter was published, then a reply by the President of Turkish Chess Federation. Yesterday the struck again and now TCF president Ali Nihat Yazici has sent us a detailed reply with an daring new proposal...

The first chess program to break 2800!

7/8/2003 – For the first time a chess program has crossed the 2800 mark on the computer rating lists. This on the basis of over 90,000 games played by 254 computers. A bit worrying for Fritz, which has been duelling Shredder for first place for some time now. But it's a family tussle, since both programs are distributed by ChessBase. Here is the latest SSDF computer rating list.

GM slayer at the Staunton Memorial

7/8/2003 – To celebrate it's 175th anniversary as the home of chess the famous London restaurant Simpsons in the Strand is staging a double round robin in memory of its famous patron: Howard Staunton, strongest chess player in the world in his day. In August it will be a 12-year-old boy billed as a "GM slayer" who will uphold the tradition.

The Fifth Move: a chess thriller from Bollywood

7/7/2003 – The movie set in North America. Two men are playing a game of chess. One is a detective who has lost everything that he loves; his life depends on how well he plays the game. The other is an exiled Georgian grandmaster who is ... well, dead. The project has attracted the attention of Hollywood stars like Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams. More...

Problems in Paradise continue

7/7/2003 – Almost a month ago, during the 4th European Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, 187 participants published a protest letter, threatening to boycott the next event. On the same day the President of Turkish chess federation replied forcefully to that letter. Now the players strike back with a second open letter and by forming an Initiative Group. More...

The pulse-racing equivalent of a sword duel

7/7/2003 – Chess played a strategic part in Albert Morris's chequered Army career, like the time when in British Somaliland he unsuccessfully attempted to introduce feuding tribal chiefs to the subtle clashes of chess warfare. His article in The Scotsman is rich in stories, puns and witticisms, and tells about how the British Education Secretary is encouraging children to play chess to improve their academic skills. Excerpts and links are here...

Einstein goes 'into administration'

7/5/2003 – UK-Wire is reporting that on July 1, 2003 "Einstein Group plc filed a petition in the High Court seeking the appointment of administrators" (which usually means insolvency). This puts the classical chess world championship match between Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Leko in jeopardy, since Einstein owns the rights to the title. More...

How do I become King?

7/4/2003 – On Saturday we start a new weekly tournament on our Playchess.com server. The Champions Challenge is a knock-out tournament in which titled players and the tournament winners of the week before can participate. The prize fund is 2,000 ducats. So if you have won a tournament already, or you have the rank of "King" on the server you can participate. Here are all the details...

Another look at Nahkchivan

7/3/2003 – GM Dorian Rogozenko has spent some time in the Azerbaijan exclave of Nakhchivan. He was there as a trainer of one of the participants of the World Junior Championship. In his Thursday lecture on our Playchess.com server Dorian will show some interesting fragments from the tournament. In the meantime here is his second report.

One giant step for David Howell

7/2/2003 – David is a 12-year-old English lad. Although a chess prodigy he was clearly the underdog against his famous opponent: GM Sergey Karjakin from the Ukraine. Mind you Sergey is just 13 himself, but he is the youngest grandmaster in history and the second of FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov. Still, David did not exactly collapse in awe. Here is an illustrated report.

The usual suspects

7/2/2003 – The July 1st FIDE rating list has the usual three players at the top: Kasparov (by 45 points!), Kramnik and Anand (eleven points apart). Judit Polgar is number 11. In the women's list we have a 13-year-old who has climbed to number 28 in the world. Here are the top ratings in the FIDE list.

Local boy leads World Junior in Azerbaijan

6/30/2003 – Azerbaijan just keeps churning them out. Kasparov, Sutovsky, Radjabov you know. How about Mamedyarov, Guseinov, and Gashimov? You'll know them soon enough. The first on that list is currently leading the World Junior in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan. He and his compatriots are getting strong competition from the powerful Indian contingent as well as the usual suspects from Russia and Ukraine. Standings and games here.

A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and – Fritz?

6/30/2003 – Summer is here, and people are flocking to exotic places with sandy beaches and luscious palms. Europe's largest computer magazine has dedicated its cover story to preparation for the trip. What must you take along? A notebook, obviously, navigation software, music, and a little brain exercise in the form of Fritz 8. More...

Kramnik and Anand to clash in Dortmund

6/30/2003 – The Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund is traditionally the strongest tournament in the country. This year six players will battle it out from July 31 to August 10 in a double round robin. At the top of the list are classical chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik and world number three Vishy Anand. We bring you all the necessary details.

Ponomariov: 'I can beat Kasparov'

6/29/2003 – FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov has given another interview, this time to the Russian sports magazine Sport Express. In it he repeats his dissatisfaction with the way FIDE has handled the organisation of his September match against Garry Kasparov and sets his demands for reimbursement for financial losses at $150,000. Here's an English transcription of the interview.

Who are your favourite players?

6/29/2003 – This is going to be a bit of work. During the European Championships in Turkey we published games, results, tactical positions, and pictures. Lots and lots of pictures, of the players at work and at play. Now we want you to review them and pick your favourite players. In return for your participation you can win autographed pictures of the most popular players in Europe. Here are all the links and some interesting new pictures.

Will the real Fritz programmer stand up?

6/29/2003 – Mathias Feist is one of the authors of our flagship program Fritz. Recently he was on a German "What's my line?" type TV show. The three candidates pretended to be experts on (gulp) bird-eating spiders. One of the contestants thought Mathias was the real thing. The following story is not for arachnophobes...

Yes, but is it chess?

6/28/2003 – On June 28 London's Gilbert Collection opens a special exhibition entitled The Art of Chess. It begins with a match between chess prodigy David Howell (12) and thw world's youngest GM Sergey Karjakin, 13. However, if you visit the exhibtion it will be the unusual chess sets that will catch your breath.

World Junior Chess Championships in Nakhchivan

6/27/2003 – Where?? Nakhchivan is one of the oldest towns of Azerbaijan. Today it is an exclave and extremely difficult to reach. That is where the U20 championships are being held. Dorian Rogozenko made the adventurous trip without a digital camera. So you we will have to make do with something quite unusual: a vivid verbal description.