Bill Hook (1925–2010)

5/27/2010 – He was a wonderful artist and the kindest of men. Bill Hook played the top board for the British Virgin Islands team at 17 Chess Olympiads. In 1970 in Siegen, Germany, he used his beloved queen maneuver against Bobby Fischer and easily equalized the game. Bill Hook died on May 10, in his home in Silver Spring, Maryland. He would have turned 85 tomorrow. Eulogy by GM Lubomir Kavalek.

Sigeman & Co: Giri and Hammer score

5/27/2010 – The 18th annual Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament, organised by the Limhamn Chess Club, is taking place in the classical Hipp Theater in central Malmo. As in the previous year, six players face each other in a round-robin tournament. Two of the youngest players, top seeds Anish Giri (15, 2642) and Jon Ludvig Hammer (19, 2610) were the first to draw blood. Round one report.

Topalov vs Anand in the Indian press

5/27/2010 – "Anand shouldn't be proud of his K links", said Topalov in the Times of India, "I would never accept help from people who humiliated me. But it seems Anand is different." To which Anand has replied in the Indian press: "'Topolov's allegations are baseless. It is a lame excuse, I took more of an emotional support from them." Statements, replies and some interesting video reports.

Attack with the Two Knights Defence

5/27/2010 – Watch out 1.e4 players! How do you continue after 1...e5? IM Lawrence Trent suggests the rediscovered Two Knights Defence with 4.Ng5 instead of the often dull lines of the Ruy Lopez. In nearly five hours he shows you both the general ideas and the latest trends. Lance Martin from chesscafe.com checked his recommendations and regards it a "sure-fire alternative". Buy his DVD now or read this review with sampler.

US Championship – Kamsky wins the title in tiebreak

5/26/2010 – It is an unusual system: the two players tied for first each secretly bid for the amount of time they would be willing to accept. The player with the lower bid gets that, the choice of colour and draw odds, the opponent has 60 minutes. Gata Kamsky bid 25 minutes and took black. He held Yury Shulman to a draw and with that took the title of US Champion. Final report.

Twenty-five years of CHESS (the musical)

5/26/2010 – A quarter of a century ago, plus or minus a year (the LP was released in 1984, the music videos in 1985 and the London stage première took place in 1986), a brilliant musical came into being, authored by Tim Rice with music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, formerly of ABBA. It proved a world-wide success and was greatly loved by chess fans. Looking back...

'FIDE – An Inglorious Inventory'

5/26/2010 – Any idea which are the most active chess playing countries in the world? Did you know that 43,000 people in the world have a 2000+ rating, while around the same number are rated below that mark? The top seven countries have the same number of players as the remaining 136 members of FIDE? The French Chess Federation's Léo Battesti presents us with some eye-opening statistics.

Great Short stories

5/26/2010 – Nigel Short is an artist of more than one talent. His greatest of course is chess. On his first "Greatest Hits" DVD he shows you his wins e.g. against Karpov, Kasparov, Anand, and also the immortal king march against Timman. GM Hedinn Steingrimsson spent four joyful hours with the DVD and recommends it to "all who want to witness how lively and imaginative chess can be". Buy now or read more.

GP in Astrakhan: Eljanov wins by a full point

5/25/2010 – Ukrainian GM Pavel Eljanov sealed things up with a 15-move draw in the twelfth against Jakovenko and then a tough battle in the final round against Gelfand. He wins the Sixth FIDE Grand Prix with a 2809 performance. Teimour Radjabov, however, who was amongst the five runners-up, took the big prize: a place in the World Championship Candidates. Final report.

Sofia in the news – reports and interviews

5/25/2010 – The World Championship in Sofia is still churning out reports in the international press. But for obvious reasons the winner, who hails from a country with over a billion inhabitants, is getting the lion's share of the attention. "I would like to see the same coverage for Topalov as you have had with Anand," requests one reader. We have scanned the press and bring you links and excerpts.

US Championship – Shulman and Kamsky to play for title in rapid tiebreak

5/24/2010 – A shock defeat on the second day of the Quad final – four top players battling it out in a round robin – virtually extinguished the chances of last year's champion Hikaru Nakamura from taking the title for a second time in succession. In the open event IM Irina Krush narrowly missed scoring her second GM norm. The final round and decision are on Sunday. Illustrated report.

GP in Astrakhan: Eljanov leads, two rounds to go

5/23/2010 – After eleven of the thirteen rounds in the FIDE Grand Prix the Ukrainian GM Pavel Iljanov has a full point lead over his nearest rivals. It is, however, Teimour Radjabov, in equal second position, who has the best chances of qualifying for a place in the World Championship cycle. Tension is high, as is the "chicken factor" (68% draws). Big illustrated report.

Election news: Yazici on the attack

5/22/2010 – The battle for FIDE presidency is getting more vicious. Leading the battle on the side of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is the President of the Turkish Chess Federation, Ali Nihat Yazici, who has published a number of pieces on the TCF web site against challenger Anatoly Karpov. In his latest piece Yazici states his reasons for switching from opponent to friend and ally of the incumbent President. Excerpts and links.

US Championship – cream of the crop for quad final

5/22/2010 – Four players have advanced to the quad finals of the 2010 U.S. Championship, but the results of round seven do not tell the full story. Though a casual glance will show that the top three boards ended in draws, uncompromising play brought the tournament to within a whisker of a large tiebreaker for the four-player round robin. Round seven report.

Breaking news: Men in black seize Russian Chess Federation

5/21/2010 – Last week the RCF nominated Anatoly Karpov as their candidate for the Presidency of FIDE. This was verbally contested by the supporters of incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Today black suited men from the private security firm “Peper” arrived at the Federation’s offices, kicked out the regular security guards and sealed off some rooms in the building. Report in True/Slant + Karpov's reaction.

US Championship – four players in contention

5/21/2010 – With one round to play before the field splits for the three-round quad finale, four of the top five seeds have the best chance of qualifying. Round six landed Gata Kamsky, Alex Onischuk, Hikaru Nakamura and Yury Shulman – 80 percent of the US Olympiad Team – atop the tables. All are undefeated with three wins and three draws each. Report by Mike Klein with beautiful portraits by Betsy Dynako.

Anand's helpers in Sofia – Part Two

5/20/2010 – In the second part of his interview on Playchess.com the old and new World Champion Vishy Anand talks about hardware – we now know that his opponent Veselin Topalov had access to an IBM super-computer with 8792 processors! – and how best to use computers for your preparation. He also compares them to human assistants, of whom Vishy had the very best.

GP in Astrakhan: Eljanov back in the lead

5/19/2010 – It's been a bit of a roller coaster, but after nine rounds and a fighting black piece victory over Teimour Radjabov, Ukrainian GM Pavel Eljanov is back in the sole lead at the FIDE Grand Prix. Four GMs – Jakovenko, Mamedyarov, Gashimov and Leko – follow half a point behind, notably with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who had a bad start, amongst them. Friday is a free day. Round nine report.

FIDE Grand Prix in Astrakhan: Inarkiev loses the lead

5/19/2010 – Ukrainian GM Pavel Eljanov was alone at the top of the table since round six, but in round eight he lost to his compatriot Ruslan Ponomariov in round eight. In that round Vladimir Akopian sweetened this three losses so far with a first victory, while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov also won his first game in this tournament when he beat Evgeny Alekseev. Four GMs share the lead. Round eight report.

Fundraiser in New York – echo in the press

5/19/2010 – A one-night binge in the Trump SoHo Hotel brought chess into the highlights of the international press. Karpov, Kasparov and Carlsen [memo: he must change that to Karlsen!] generated a large number of international reports, almost outshining the World Chess Championship in Sofia. Not unexpectedly the stories reflect the challenger's side of the ticket. Press links.

Anand in Playchess – the helpers in Sofia

5/19/2010 – The team of World Championship challenger Veselin Topalov reportedly spent a large sum of money to secure a 112 core computer cluster running at mind boggling speed. "How did the reigning champion counter this awesome hardware advantage," we asked. Anand answered this question in a candid and very detailed interview broadcast on Monday Playchess. He used a human cluster!

US Championship – Kamsky and Onischuk in the lead

5/19/2010 – After four rounds there were seven players jumbled at the top of the tables. Only two were left after round five had finished: GM Gata Kamsky and GM Alexander Onischuk. The second and third seeds, both won as White and are all alone at 4/5. A pack of four GMs is half a point shy of the leaders. IM Irina Krush, the only female participant, has a 2657 GM performance. Round five report.

US Championship – seven players with 3.0/4

5/18/2010 – Exciting games and close competition in Saint Louis: after two rounds there were two players in the lead, after three four players, and after four rounds seven players. Favourites Nakamura, Kamsky and Onischuk are at the top. The only female participant, IM Irina Krush, played 12 hours and 206 chess moves in the last two rounds. Round four report with a giant pictorial by Betsy Dynako.

Big Karpov fund-raiser in New York

5/18/2010 – Karpov, Kasparov and Carlsen – two former and one very likely future world champion – took part in a launch party and fundraiser in the spectacular Trump SoHo Hotel in New York. It is for Karpov's bid to become President of FIDE. There were chess games as well as entertainment and champagne, which introduced a slight complication in the festivities. Pictures and video.