Saved by the flu – literally

1/18/2004 – Normally influenza viruses bring pain and exhaustion to the afflicted, with no mitigating circumstances. Except in this one case, where they saved the life Jamshid Begmatov, the moderator of our chess game against Uzbek GM Yuldashev, who was prevented from taking an ill-fated plane trip by a flu. Here's the harrowing story.

Corus Round 7: Anand leads alone at last

1/18/2004 – As inevitable as tears at a wedding, Vishy Anand has taken the lead in Wijk aan Zee. The Indian won the all-Asia game against Zhang Zhong with black while his co-leaders could only draw (or lose, in Topalov's case). Is Anand's second consecutive title also inevitable? Svidler, Bologan, and Shirov also won. Full report with analysis and photos here now.

Trouble finding good moves? Find bad ones!

1/17/2004 – If you play too many blunders maybe you just need practice looking for them. You have to admit that makes sense in a twisted way and here is your chance. We have an even dozen tactical positions in which you have to find the worst move, not the best. You'll hone your defensive skills and your ability to calculate. Think it's easy to find bad moves? Think again.

Corus Round 6: White is Okay

1/17/2004 – Chessplayers often explain the advantage of the first move by comparing it to having the serve in tennis. Today the aces were serving aces and all four wins came with the white pieces. All four were also scored by the leaders: Adams, Kramnik, Anand, and Topalov moved to +2. Report with photos and analysis here.

Corus Round 5: Jan Can!

1/16/2004 – Things quieted down on the scoreboard but not on the chess board. Marathon games of 80, 101, and 182 moves gave endgame fans more than their money's worth in round five. The only wins in the A group were by Akopian and Dutch legend Jan Timman, who got his first WAZ win in two years. The leading pack of five remained unchanged. Report, photos, and analysis here.

Fourways International brings elite to Bermuda

1/16/2004 – If you want to see top-level chess outside of Europe, this is your chance. The Fourways International is underway in beautiful Bermuda. The impressive field includes US champ Alexander Shabalov, perennial star Boris Gelfand, and last year's winner Giovanni Vescovi. Shabba won in the first round to take the early lead. Games and report.

The Gambit Publications Challenge

1/14/2004 – Chess books are not easy to sell. Maybe it is because of boring titles, like "Chess Endgame Strategy" or "Improve your 2.c3 Sicilian". Gambit Publications, one of the most successful chess book publishers in the world, wants you to suggest titles that will fire the imagination of the public. You can win some interesting prizes by suggesting appropriately flashy titles.

Corus Round 4: Action in Wijk aan Zee

1/14/2004 – All of the pent-up energy in Wijk aan Zee finally burst free today. There were as many wins as we'd seen in the first three rounds combined. No one managed to break out of the leading pack, which grew to five players on +1. van Wely beat Timman in the Battle of Holland and Kramnik put the brakes on Svidler. Full report with photos and analysis here now.

Corus Round 3: The calm after the calm

1/13/2004 – We're still waiting for the storm in Wijk aan Zee. There was only one decisive game today, making just 5 of 21 games total. There were three short draws, but the one win was even shorter! Displaying a total lack of nationalistic solidarity, Russian champ Peter Svidler demolished countryman Evgeny Bareev in just 17 moves. He joins Anand and Leko in the lead with 2/3. Full report here.

What's in a name?

1/13/2004 – In a recent interview on India's NDTV GM Vishy Anand explained the origin of his name. But many readers thought his explanation did not bring final clarity into the matter. With two weeks of Anand on the front pages of our Wijk coverage we thought it would not be amiss to bring you a short primer on his and other players' names.

How to get the most out of your training CDs

1/13/2004 – How can you force your brain, that capricious mass of biological tissue, to accommodate the vast treasure of chess knowledge? Should you start with openings, the middlegame, tactics, strategy, endgame? The surprising advice of Aryan Argandewal: do everything at once! Storm it! Go through an entire ChessBase training CD in a single day.

Sick leave in Tashkent

1/12/2004 – The message told of influenza and high temperature, our reporter in Uzbekistan just got off a few lines with the moves – and a large bunch of emails he had received from chess fans all over the world. While he battles the flu bug, the game between GM Yuldashev and the Uzbek TV audience + ChessBase continues. Here's our sick-leave report...

Comparing some new ChessBase CDs and DVDs (DVDs!?)

1/12/2004 – We've released so many new products lately that some are having trouble telling them apart and figuring out which would be best for them. In his latest ChessBase Cafe column at the ChessCafe.com website, Mig gives the scoop on our latest and greatest. Don't forget to send in your own questions and suggestions for next month's column. Go to index.

Schwarzenegger – playing chess with the budget

1/11/2004 – "An opening move in the fiscal chess game" – that is how one journalist is describing Governer Arnold Schwarzenegger's recently announced budget plans for California's ailing economy. The analogy to chess is not accidental – the action star is known to be a chess enthusiast. Here's the full story...

Corus Round 2: The favorites strike back

1/11/2004 – One day after the top rated player lost to an outsider, the top tenners took revenge. Vladimir Akopian's run of glory lasted just one day. Kramnik bounced back by beating van Wely. Vishy Anand took a share of the lead with a win over Akopian and was joined by Peter Leko, who beat Timman. Full report and analysis here.

Corus Round 1: Akopian beats Kramnik and leads

1/10/2004 – While the other dozen players were splitting the points, the battle of the Vladimirs provided action to spare. Akopian finished off Kramnik with a spectacular rook sacrifice to become the first leader of the year. Games with notes and report here.

Corus Wijk aan Zee tournament begins today

1/9/2004 – Corus is the sponsor, a steel manufacturing company responsible for 10% of total EU production; "wyke aahn zay" is the Dutch seaside resort north-west of Amsterdam; the tournament is a category 19 with an average rating of 2702. It all comes together today, the first round is on Saturday. Details...

Our readers reply to Kasparov

1/9/2004 – Volume two is out, and the discussion of Garry Kasparov's book "My Great Predecessors" continues unabated. Especially during the Christmas break many readers sent in commentary and analysis. Some add new insights to previous discussions, others tackle new positions. GM Karsten Müller presents his Analysis Focus #4.

Scottish champion wins Hastings

1/7/2004 – “A meeting of those interested in chess will be held at Hastings," read the advertisement in June 1882. Since then the annual chess festival in Hastings has been one of the permiere tournaments in the world. This year it was won by Jonathan Rowson and Vasilios Kotronias. Here's a pictorial report.

Major Fraud, or just Playing The Game?

1/6/2004 – In September 2001 Major Charles Ingram won the £1,000,000 prize in Britain's TV quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Subsequently he and two accomplices were convicted of fraud – using coughs to signal the answers. Chess grandmaster James Plaskett, who has been on the show twice himself, is not convinced of their guilt.

Printing games and diagrams with ChessBase 8

1/6/2004 – In this week's ChessBase Workshop, we look as some questions and answers specifically relating to print publication of chess games and diagrams. If you're planning on writing the "chess book of your dreams", be sure to take a look here before you begin! It is all to be found in the latest installment of Steve Lopez's ChessBase Workshop...

Crossing the mountains to meet the girls

1/4/2004 – Today our roving reporter Jamshid Begmatov traverses the treacherous Kamchik mountain pass to visit two young girls who are the Uzbekistan champions in their age groups. Meanwhile GM Saidali Yuldashev seems definitely to be gaining the upper hand against the Uzbek TV audience + ChessBase visitors. Here's our pictorial report.

Kasparov leads in January 2004 FIDE list

1/3/2004 – Once again Kasparov is at the top, 54 points ahead of his nearest rival. Next come Kramnik and Anand, as usual, with a new player joining them in the top slot: Peter Svidler, who gained 24 points. Judit Polgar is now number eight in the world. Here is the list of the top 100.

Running of the GMs in Pamplona

12/31/2003 – A very hotly contested tournament in Spain ended in a three-way tie between McShane, Sutovsky, and local hero Illescas. No player finished without a loss and only 33% of the games were drawn. Two of the world's youngest Grandmasters, Nakamura and Karjakin, had a rough time but managed to score a pair of wins each. More..