News flash: Game seven drawn

10/17/2002 – Game seven of the Man vs Machine event in Bahrain ended in a draw after Vladimir Kramnik was unable to capitalise on a typical anti-computer postition. Fritz in fact threatened to turn tables on the world champion, who ended up defending for the draw. The score is now 3.5:3.5. A full report and pictures will follow soon. In the meantime you can replay the game here. More

Did Deep Fritz use Shakespeare to heckle the World Champion?

10/16/2002 – It is an interesting theory: the Fritz team installed the latest chatter files during the Man vs Machine event in Bahrain, causing the machine to talk to the world champion in authentic Shakespearean verse during the game. The historical chatter drove Kramnik to distraction and prompted his ill-fated Morphy-esque knight sacrifice. That, in any case, ist how Schakespearean scholar and chess addict Michael Fischer tells it in his special report.

Indian ladies dazzle in Hyderabad

10/15/2002 – The FIDE World Cup in Hyderabad, India, has seen top seeds Ivanchuk and Morozevich bowing out in the preliminaries, while Vishy Anand came back after a shock loss to compatriot K. Sasikiran to qualify for the quarterfinals. But the stars are the women players Meenakshi Subbaraman and Koneru Humpy. Read all about it in Manisha Mohite's richly illustrated report from Hyderabad.

Deep Fritz wins game six to equalise

10/15/2002 – The computer went for a Queen's Indian today, giving the opponent a clear advantage but keeping its pieces – and especially its queen – on the board. On move 19 the world champion could not resist a piece sacrifice which could have made this game "the most beautiful of my career" (Kramnik). But Fritz found a brilliant defence and took the point. Here's our full illustrated report.

Kids and Kramnik at Brains in Bahrain

10/14/2002 – Monday is children's day in Bahrain. At least this Monday was. They descended in droves on the Muharraq Mind Sports Centre, noisy and smart, speaking flawless English, mostly with a British accent, but with American-style jokes and goofing off. The girls in hijabs and more subdued, but enjoying chess as much as the boys. Actually quite delightful, as you will see in our Bahrain Picture Gallery V.

Behind Deep Blue

10/13/2002 – The old adage that behind every good man there’s a good woman is true more times than not. More or less the same can be said for chess computers: behind every good chess computer there’s a good designer. James DuBois takes a first look at Behind Deep Blue by Feng-Hsiung Hsu.

SHOCKER! Iceman Kramnik loses game 5

10/13/2002 – In its best game of the match Fritz had world champion Vladimir Kramnik under considerable pressure. With 15 minutes on his clock to make six more moves, Kramnik tried to avoid a long, tedious and possibly lost endgame – and played the worst blunder of his career to lose a piece and resigned almost immediately. More

New tricks and new friends in Bahrain

10/12/2002 – Two free days after game four of the Brains in Bahrain Man-Machine Challenge. One we spent on a sight-seeing tour around the northern section of the main island of Bahrain. On this trip Vladimir Kramnik picked up some valuable tips on how to defend a against the awaited onslaught in game five against Deep Fritz, and he also timorously made friends with some local denizens. Check it out in our Bahrain Gallery IV.

Fritz Tries a New Twist and Earns a Draw in Game 4

10/10/2002 – After getting outplayed in closed positions Team Fritz tried a new line in game four that opened things up. Vladimir Kramnik still gained an advantage but was unable to realize it. With the 41 move draw the first half of the match ended with a 3-1 lead for the human world champion. The next game takes place after two rest days on Sunday, October 13. More

Who stole my candy, who froze my pieces?

10/9/2002 – You have read about the Man vs Machine match, in scores of reports from all over the world. But do you know what is going on in the background? Nobody has yet reported about the raids on Kramnik's food supplies, or explained how the chess pieces ended up in his refrigerator. We fill in these gaping holes in the general news coverage in our Bahrain Picture Gallery 3.

Man vs Machine – Fritz 7 vs Vladimir Kramnik

10/8/2002 – Our top program Fritz 7 is currently battling the World Chess Champion in the Brains in Bahrain Man-Machine Challenge. You can watch the action live on our Flash client or chat about the game with people all over the world on our Playchess Server. Coverage is also available at Spiegel-Online and other sites. You can also own the exact same program that is giving Vladimir Kramnik sleepless nights. You will find Fritz 7 and other exciting products in our online shop. Here's a list of live broadcast sites.

Kramnik Fights Back to Win Game 3, Leads 2.5-0.5

10/8/2002 – To be a Grandmaster you must know how to fight every type of battle. To be a world champion you must learn how to make your opponent fight on your battlefield. Vladimir Kramnik came out of an inferior position to outplay Fritz in a tough five-hour duel. More

People and faces at Brains in Bahrain

10/7/2002 – Sunday, October 2002. Game two. Vladimir Kramnik has white in his match against Deep Fritz. The ChessBase team expect a tough battle. And that is exactly what they get. In the press room a large crown watch and transmit the game move by move to millions on the Internet. We bring you new pictures directly from the event site in our Bahrain Picture Gallery 2.

Kramnik Squeezes the Machine to Win Game 2

10/6/2002 – The champion induced Fritz to make several mistakes in the early going and the program never recovered. Fritz fought back tenaciously, but Kramnik kept firm control of the position throughout and now leads the match 1.5-0.5. After the game Kramnik said that he had been suprised by the "inhuman" defence of the computer and almost resigned himself to a draw. More

It's in the news – is it ever in the news!

10/5/2002 – The match between classical chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik and Deep Fritz has generated a huge amount of interest. The news media all around the world are slowly going into frenzy mode over the event. We have collected links to major articles in Time, The Times, Herald Tribune, New York Times, CNN, Voice of America, etc. Also to the sites that are doing live coverage using our Flash client. You will find a selection here.

Kramnik - Deep Fritz About to Get Underway

10/4/2002 – Before the press conference there was the obligatory photo shoot with the obligatory local children, who had been corralled on short notice. Even money says that maybe one of them knew how to play chess and 5 to 1 that any of them had heard of Kramnik before. But they are darned cute, we admit it. After that the champ was ready for more serious business: the pre-match press conference. The first game is Friday, Oct. 4 at 3pm local time, 12pm GMT. Log into the Playchess server for live chat and commentary. You can also follow the match live on our new Flash applet with onsite commentary from the elite team assembled in Bahrain. (Left: "Deep Fritz" in Arabic!) More

You say Manama, I say MaNAHma

10/4/2002 – Three days have passed, both teams in the Man vs Machine event have arrived and settled down in Manama, the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain. We bring you a first visual impression of a place where we are going live and play chess for almost three weeks. Take a look at our Bahrain picture gallery.

The Berlin Wall Holds. Short Draw in Game 1

10/4/2002 – After the game Vladimir Kramnik said that he was never really worried about losing the typical Berlin endgame that arose in his first game against Deep Fritz. The World Champion is the master of this line and Fritz was unable to take advantage of the white pieces. More

Today: Match of the week 3

10/2/2002 – Every week on Wednesday, chess friends can play in an intersting on-line team event and win a three-month subsription of "Chess". Just download our ten-day test-version and support the world team in their weekly encounter against the german team. Today, the inscription starts at 19.30 (server time). More

Kramnik is in Bahrain – and in the news

9/29/2002 – The Gulf Daily News reports that world champion Vladimir Kramnik has arrived in Bahrain. He was welcomed at the airport by a high-profile delegation and the Russian Ambassador. Meanwhile the news media all over the world has picked up the story. Today we found a full spread in The Telegraph and a four-page interview with Kramnik in Germany's Der Spiegel. More

No more coffee for grandmasters

9/26/2002 – If you are a tournament player and have a liking for a certain brown beverage, you are in big trouble, mate. Especially if you imbibe more than four cups. Ask GM Joe Gallagher, who was dragged off to a test by Swiss doctors after a tournament in Biel. Or Lindsay Earls, a 16-year-old sophomore who was forced to pee into a cup while teachers waited outside. More

IM Dr Ricardo Calvo, 1943 – 2002

9/26/2002 – It is with great sadness that we learn of the death of Dr Ricardo Calvo, a medical doctor, a multilingual chess historian and a journalist. He was also involved in chess politics, and his activities culminated in his being declared persona non grata in 1987, after he had written a critical article on the world chess federation. We last met Ricardo when he moderated the Advanced Chess match in June this year. You will find pictures and links to his articles here.

Okay, so who is the fastest?

9/24/2002 – Since he gave up short pants Garry Kasparov has dominated every ratings list ever calculated. Now at last there is one where things are not quite so clear. Willy Iclicki, FIDE board member, has produced a rapid ratings list with another name at the top. Would you like to guess which players are on the top of this one?

Grandmaster Eduard Gufeld has died

9/24/2002 – He was born in the Ukraine on 19 March 1936. In the late 1950s had established himself as one of the strongest players in the world, defeating Tal, Spassky, Smyslov, Korchnoi, Bronstein, and just about ever other strong Soviet player. He was also a prolific author who wrote over 100 chess books. Sam Sloan and others have written fine eulogies to this great chess personality.