Deep Junior strikes back

1/30/2003 – Actually it was Garry Kasparov, who was dominating during most of the game. Then he let his advange slip, and just when he had resigned himself to accepting a draw he overlooked a sharp continuation which handed the game to his opponent. With this surprise victory Deep Junior has equalised and filled the entire match with new tension. How did it all happen? Here's a full illustrated report on game three.

Kasparov's 'fingerfehler' lets the computer off the hook

1/29/2003 – The world's strongest player Garry Kasparov dominated in the game, and he had Deep Junior on the ropes. But suddenly a tiny inaccuracy left him with a draw instead of a win. Shaking his head in sheer disbelief Kasparov watched the computer sacrifice its queen and force the champion to accept a repetition of moves. A full report will appear later, here for the moment is the game and pictures.

Top grandmasters dissatisfied with FIDE tournament policy

1/28/2003 – Following the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the six top grandmasters have appealed to FIDE president Kirsan Illyumshinov in an open letter. Points of criticism are the abandonment of the FIDE world cup after two of five scheduled tournaments, as well as the uncertainty about date and form of the once planned world championship. More...

'Deep Junior is clearly better than Deep Blue'

1/27/2003 – There were enough journalists to cripple any complementary buffet in the world. In under a month, the Kasparov name and the X3D promotion team brought over 150 media representatives to the New York Athletic Club for Kasparov's first public game against a computer in almost six years. Read our report on the press conference in New York, the place to go when you want to do something grand. More.

Vishy wins Wijk

1/27/2003 – After not having played a single game of classical chess for almost a year Indian superstar Vishy Anand came back with a bang at the Corus Wijk aan Zee tournament. Without losing a single game and winning four he took first place with a 2809 performance. Second was Judit Polgar, who also remained undefeated. A full report on the final round will follow, in the meantime you will find games and results here...

Pictures from the Big Apple

1/27/2003 – The spectacular Man vs Machine event is under way, Garry Kasparov is facing the Israeli program Deep Junior – just a few blocks away from his traumatic 1997 encounter with IBM's Deep Blue. The first days of preparation in New York were predictably hectic, with everything falling into place at the very last minute. Apparently that's how things work in the Big Apple. We bring you a first pictorial report.

The Rodney Dangerfield of Chess

1/26/2003 – Since winning the 2001 FIDE KO World Championship in Moscow Ruslan Ponomariov has discovered that one big paycheck and a nice medal do not automatically earn you respect in the chess world. After a horrible start in Wijk aan Zee Super Mariov has won three straight games to claw back to an even score with one round to play. Read all about it in Mig's round 12 report.

Loek on the rise

1/25/2003 – During his last three visits to Wijk aan Zee Vladimir Kramnik lost a total of one game. Today he lost his third of Corus 2003. Showing a toughness previously absent from his game, Loek van Wely bounced back from tough losses to beat the classical chess champion in excellent style. This is a long way from his seven losses a year ago! Anand and Polgar drew their games to set up the clash of leaders tomorrow in round 12. More...

They must have put something in the water

1/24/2003 – The pussy-cat took a snooze on Tuesday – and woke up a ferocious animal. All but a single game were decided, with Black winning three: Anand defeated Shirov, Polgar defeate Grischuk and Radjabov grinding down an over-reaching Krasenkow. Even Vassily Ivanchuk, caught up by the mood, was able to manage his first win against tail-ender Jan Timman. Read Mig Greengard's entertaining and informative report on round 10

Man vs Computer: the rules of the game

1/22/2003 – It took a long time, but now, just five day before the start of the Man vs Machine match in New York, there is good news. "I am delighted to advise that as of this evening the principals have agreed the definitive rules for the match," writes David Levy, who spent last autumn working on them. So here they are, the rules of the game.

A technology company's invitation: meet the champs

1/22/2003 – Like to meet Garry Kasparov and the Deep Junior team. Then make your way to the New York Athletic Club on Central Park South to meet them, as well as FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and the people of X3D Technologies, the computer company that is hosting the event (and already staged the Kasparov-Karpov match last December. >>>>

Man vs Machine part III: Evgeny vs Hiarcs

1/22/2003 – In October Kramnik played Deep Fritz, on January 26 it's Kasparov vs Deep Junior. From January 28 to 31 the Maastricht Foundation are staging a match over four games between GM Evgeny Bareev, the world's number 8, and the program Hiarcs 8, written by Mark Uniacke of England. It will take place in the Centre Céramique from 28-31 January 2003. Eric van Reem gives us all the details on this match.

Kasparov going with the Times

1/21/2003 – Paul Hoffman is a regular writer for the New York Times. He is also a chess enthusiast who manages to get stories on computers and grandmasters it the pages of the broadsheet. Once again Paul has struck and produced a long and very readable article on the upcoming Kasparov vs Deep Junior match in the science section. You will need to register (free) to read it. For those who can't here is a short synopsis.

Snooze aan Zee

1/21/2003 – What is better than a rest day coming up in a really tough tournament? Two rest days. If you can afford to take the quick draw, or your name doesn't begin with Topalov, this is no big problem. The only decisive game came when Grischuk collapsed against Bareev's Caro-Kann. Take a look at what Evgeny did with his queen in Mig's round nine report.

A new face: Anna Hahn, US Champion

1/20/2003 – Three players were tied for first in the 2003 US Women's Champion. Underdog Anna Hahn, 26, born in Latvia and currently a resident of Jersey City, caused a major chess upset in the playoff by beating former champions Jennifer Shahade and Irina Krush. The win brought her a record first prize of $12,500. Besides chess Anna is fond of music, dancing, tennis and, would you believe it, kickboxing. Here is John Henderson's report.

Anand all alone at the top

1/20/2003 – After three wins in a row Loek van Wely went down fighting against veteran Anatoly Karpov, Alexei Shirov found himself a piece down after tactical complications against Alexander Grischuk. Ruslan Ponomariov had an even more traumatic encounter with the youngest player, 15-year-old Teimour Radjabov. Which left Anand to tenaciously hold a draw against the other world champion Vladimir Kramnik and take the sole lead in Wijk. Full report.

Shaba takes Seattle

1/19/2003 – Some have problems with a good night's sleep there, but Alexander Shabalov, 35, came, saw and took the $25,000 prize fund as US Champion 2003. The 1992 émigré from Riga, Latvia, was tied with seven other players for a Showdown in Seattle. In a nerve-wracking final the "street fighter" overcame a bad position to win and take the title. Here is John Henderson's final report.

Anand and Van Wely on winning streak

1/19/2003 – After the Dutch player Loek van Wely stormed his way into the joint lead with Anand and Polgar, he continued his incredible winning streak by beating compatriot Jan Timman today. Only Vishy Anand was able to keep up with a fine victory over FIDE champion Ruslan Ponomariov. Meanwhile Shirov continued his roller coaster ride with a win over Bareev, while Judit Polgar squeaked out a draw against Vladimir Kramnik. Read our full report.

Saving the reunification championship

1/18/2003 – Negotiations between FIDE and Ruslan Ponomariov seem to have reached an impasse. In this dire situation GM Mikhail Golubev, editor of Ukrainian Chess Online, has come up with a proposal to save the reunification process. Essentially he wants the Ponomariov-Kasparov match to be clearly definied as a semi-final match for the reunification process and for its result to lose valitidy if the process is not completed. More.

Showdown in Seattle

1/18/2003 – The US Championship in Seattle, Washington, is getting set for either stunning breakaway or one of the most even, boring tournaments ever. The ninth and final round is on Saturday the 18th. There is a lot of money (prize fund $253,000, first prize $25,000) at stake, and eight players are tied in first place: Kaidanov, Shabalov, Akobian, Stripunsky, Gulko, Ivanov, Benjamin and Fedorowicz, all at 5.5/8. Prepare for the showdown tonight.

Mayor Bloomberg invites us to New York

1/18/2003 – The Kasparov-Deep Junior match is just a week away. Today we received an official announcement from New York Mayor Michael R Bloomberg, who writes: "It is my pleasure to welcome the 'Man vs. Machine' tournament to New York City. People from around the world will enjoy the fierce competition between one of the world's most strategic and intuitive minds and the latest advances in artificial intelligence." Here is the full message from Mayor Bloomberg.

Loek who's leading in Wijk!

1/18/2003 – The Dutch players traditionally occupy the back ranks in the Super-GM tournament in Wijk aan Zee. They are normally outclassed by the -ovs, -chucks and the odd -and. But this time one player came to the Corus tournament ferociously well prepared and raring for a fight. Today Loek van Wely ground down Evgeny Bareev, after beating Topalov yesterday, both times with the black pieces. Here's Mig Greengard's round six report.

Einstein: the players have all been paid!

1/17/2003 – "We are disappointed that ChessBase neglected to check with us before posting the artícle," wrote Steve Timmins, CEO of the Einstein Group. He was referring to the press release of Jan. 15 in which Madame Nahed Ojjeh announced she was breaking ties with Einstein for non-payment of some participants at the Dortmund Chess Tournament, which she had sponsored. Timmins tells us that all participants have now been paid. More

Fritz comes second, just behind Deep Fritz

1/17/2003 – The Swedish Svenska schackdatorföreningen (SSDF, Chess Computer Association) has released its latest computer ranking list, based on over 90,000 games played by 250 computers. As usual (for about four years now) Fritz is at the top, with the multiprocessor version Deep Fritz 7 outstripping its single-processor sibling – on identical hardware. The level of play of the leader, by the way, is 2755.