10/6/2001 – Even though Vishy Anand's blackout performance in Dortmund lost him 24 points he remains in the three-player group at the top of the latest FIDE rating list. Vladimir Kramnik is now just 29 points behind the permanent leader, Garry Kasparov, who has built himself a nest at a dizzying hight of 2830. Alexander Morozevich and Peter Leko follow the three at a respectful distance, then come Veselin ("welcome back") Topalov, Michael Adams and Vassily Ivanchuk. For the first time in years Alexei Shirov ist not among the top ten. more

10/1/2001 – Is this boring or what? Once again Fritz tops the latest computer ratings list with a remarkable 2726 Elo score, on an Athlon 1200 MHz with 256 MB RAM. Interesting to note that nine of the top ten programs on the list run as engines under the Fritz interface. The full SSDF rating list is available more

9/22/2001 – At the end of October ChessBase will release the long-awaited Fritz 7. It will be considerably stronger than its predecessor. But it also gives you direct and uncomplicated access to Internet chess. With just two clicks you can log on to the ChessBase Playchess server and start playing against other people all over the world. more

9/19/2001 – Some weeks ago we showed you a bunch of people in front of a beautiful castle. You had to spot the great chess player in the crowd to win a special prize. Well, here's the solution, together with the story behind the picture: the taking of East Germany Part deux. more

9/18/2001 – On September 11, 1995 New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani played the move 1.c4 to start the World Chess Championship match between Anand and Kasparov on the observation deck of the world Trade Center. Once the TV cameras were switched off, Anand corrected the move to 1.e4. "Wish we could do the same, switch off the TV screens and reverse what the barbarians have done," writes V. Krishnaswamy, who spent five weeks in the WTC, looks back in sorrow at the 1995 match in his India Chess Diary.

9/18/2001 – The story is not going away, in fact it is gaining momentum. Many people believe that Bobby Fischer has returned and is performing miracles on the Internet. Nigel Short said he was "99 per cent sure" he has had played Fischer. Tim rabbé, who was initially skeptical, has now seen the light. We have taken another closer look at the evidence. Check it out more