Everyone loves the Dragon Sicilian

4/29/2008 – Maybe they don't enjoy playing or facing it, but if nothing else it's often a lot of fun watching games in that variation. That's what our Playchess.com lecturer Dennis Monokroussos will do this week. A treat for present-day dragoneers.

Topalov in TV bank commercial

4/28/2008 – Guess who did a cute little ad in Bulgarian TV. Oops, we told you who in the headline, didn't we? Well, it is really nice 30-second commercial and well worth watching. The dialog is in Bulgarian, but one of our readers supplied us with a transcription and a translation. You can view the commercial on YouTube.

Baku R7: Four wins in a fighting round

4/28/2008 – Gata Kamsky scored his first duck in Baku against local boy Vugar Gashimov, to relinquish his lead in the table. Gashimov used the victory to climb to the top. Carlsen beat Radjabov with black, Sergey Karjakin took a full point from Ernesto Inarkiev. And Ivan Cheparinov won his second game in succession, beating Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Full report with pictures and videos.

Plovdiv: Movsesian and Sutovsky lead

4/27/2008 – Two players, Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia and Emil Sutovsky of Israel, are in the lead, each having conceded just one draw in the first six rounds of the European Individual Championships 2008. In the women's section three IMs share the top slot. The event is taking place in Plovdiv, a town that is older than Rome, Carthage or Constantinople. Big photo report by Diana Mihajlova.

Baku R6: Kamsky beats Adams, joins the leaders

4/27/2008 – British GM Michael Adams was under a lot of pressure by Brooklyn Boy Gata Kamsky, who was two pawns up. Just when it seemed that Adams was heading for a draw Kamsky outplayed him very nicely in the rook ending. Now Gata shares the lead with Alex and Wang. Ivan Cheparinov scored a full point, with black, against Ernesto Inarkiev. Full report with pictures and videos.

Have you found your favourite Fritz Trainer DVD?

4/25/2008 – John Watson, famous author and one of the great critics of chess books and software, did. Kasimdzhanov's King's Indian DVD is not the latest one in the Fritz Trainer series but it will give you lots of ideas and enjoyment. 'You'll like it even if you're a 1 e4 player who never intends to get near the King's Indian as White or Black.'. Buy it now or read Watson's review with sampler.

Baku R5: Wang Yue beats Karjakin with the Berlin

4/25/2008 – Actually the Chinese GM was, in his own words, "lucky to win this game", with the Berlin Defence of the Ruy Lopez. Around move 25 his Ukrainian opponent started to lose concentration and play dubious moves. In the end Karjakin could not hold the rook ending. All other games of round five were drawn. Express report with games, pictures and videos.

Baku R3: a fighting day with five decisive games

4/24/2008 – It was certainly an exciting third round, with victories chalked up by Magnus Carlsen, Vugar Gashimov, Etienne Bacrot, Sergey Karjakin (picture) and Alexander Grischuk, who is now in the lead with 2.5/3 at the Grand Prix in Baku. Five players share the second slot with 2.0 points. Ivan Cheparinov, the second of Veselin Topalov, has still to score anything. Full report with pictures and videos.

Plovdiv: ten players with perfect scores

4/24/2008 – After three rounds of the European Individual Championships 2008 there are ten players in the men's section who have won all three games. 36 players have conceded a single draw. In the women's section five players have perfect scores, followed by 22 with a single draw so far. We bring you games and standings, and a insider impressions of the atmosphere in this pictorial report by Diana Mihajlova.

Edward Winter presents: Unsolved Chess Mysteries (28)

4/24/2008 – The cast in this further selection from Chess Notes includes not only Morphy, Steinitz and Lasker but also Charlie Chaplin and Harpo Marx. Other players are Harrwitz, Greco and Ruy López. As usual, readers are invited to join in the hunt for clues. And now there is also an opportunity to obtain inscribed copies of books by the chess historian. Fascinating material.

Baku R4: Adams beats Navara, Wang Yue beats Cheparinov

4/24/2008 – What is wrong with Ivan Cheparinov? The young Bulgarian GM, just a few points shy of 2700 on the rating list, has lost all four games so far. Today he went down to Wang Yue, whom he had knocked out in round four of the FIDE World Cup last December. Meanwhile Michael Adams beat David Navara. The Prime Minister of Azerbaijan visited round four. Full report with games, pictures and videos.

Zukertort, the man who came second

4/23/2008 – He lost the inaugural world championship match in 1886 to Wilhelm Steinitz, and died in his mid-40s. Johannes Zukertort would be a forgotten man if he hadn't left so many valuable games behind. In tonight's Playchess.com lecture Dennis Monokroussos takes a look at one from the London 1883 tournament which Zukertort won with a 22/26 score. Can you figure out the brilliant combination?

Baku R1: Grischuk and Kamsky win with black

4/22/2008 – First blood in the first round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan, was drawn by Alexander Grischuk and Gata Kamsky, who defeated Ivan Cheparinov and Ernesto Inarkiev respectively, with the black pieces. The other five games were drawn. But even the shortest game, a 25-mover between Mamedyarov and Svidler, was a tense encounter. Report on round one.

European Individual Championships 2008 in Plovdiv

4/22/2008 – Remember how impressed we all were with the 90 GMs at the Russian Team Championships in Sochi earlier this month. 16 of them were rated over 2600, we enthusiastically reported. Well, at the European Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, we count 96 grandmasters, with 70 in the "Super-GM" category of 2600 rating points or higher. And 105 IMs, as opposed to three in Sochi. First report.

Baku R2: Adams, Radjabov and Inarkiev win

4/22/2008 – Ernesto Inarkiev, the number twelve seed, came back strongly after his traumatic loss to Gata Kamsky in round one to score a fine victory over second seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Etienne Bacrot walked into a mate against local boy Teimour Radjabov, while British GM Michael Adams outplayed the luckless Ivan Cheparinov, who has zero points so far. Full report with pictures and videos.

Topalov wins Dos Hermanas Rapid

4/21/2008 – Former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov and top Spanish GM Francisco Vallejo played the final of the XIV International Chess Tournament in Dos Hermanas. In the first game on Sunday Vallejo blundered on move 18 and Topalov won the game. The next three games were drawn, so that the Bulgarian was the overall winner of the knockout rapid event. Illustrated report.

How to deal with lonely pawns

4/21/2008 – With his sixth Powerplay DVD, Daniel King has reached halftime in his unique Fritz Trainer series. On vol. 6 he attends to some familiar but lonely pawns, the Isolated Queen Pawn (IQP) and the Central Passed Pawn (CPP). 'Rather than guessing what you should be doing, after seeing this DVD you will know exactly what to do', Michael Jeffreys sums up. Buy it now or read his review.

Topalov. Vallejo in final of Dos Hermanas Rapid

4/20/2008 – The XIV International Chess Tournament in the Spanish city of Dos Hermanas sees four players in a knockout rapid tournament. In the first round Francisco Vallejo eliminated Alexei Shirov with two wins and two draws. Veselin Topalov won his first two games against Judit Polgar, drew the third to qualify for the final and lost the fourth to the strongest female player ever. Watch the final today.

'So' young and 'So' good

4/20/2008 – The youngest grandmaster in the world is Filipino Wesley So, who last December made his final norm at the tender age of 14 years and two months. That was no fluke, as Wesley went on to win the 10th Dubai Open this April, with a 2708 performance. In a match that is under way against Susanto Megaranto, Indonesia's highest rated player, Wesley leads 3:0. Report by IM Rodolfo Tan Cardoso.

First FIDE Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan

4/19/2008 – The first of a series of FIDE Grand Prix tournaments begins on Sunday, with 14 players, including Magnus Carlsen, Shak Mamedyarov, Teimour Radjabov, Peter Svidler, Sergey Karjakin, Michael Adams, Gata Kamsky and Alexander Grischuk. The winner of the series at the end of 2009 will play the winner of the World Cup for the right to challenge the world champion. Full details.

Eighth PAL/CSS Freestyle Qualifier

4/18/2008 – The first Freestyle tournament of this year has finished its qualifier open for the best of ten, who will be competing for the $16,000 dollar prize fund on April 25-27th. Once again many FIDE and correspondence chess title holders showed up for this online event, where "anything goes" –computer help and consultation. But only few of them made their way up to the final. Arno Nickel reports.

Fritz Q&A

4/18/2008 – Each time a new Fritz version is released, you can bet your bottom dollar that certain "standard" questions will invariably be asked of our support people. Steve Lopez answers these in the latest installment of ChessBase Workshop.

Wesley So wins Dubai Open, player disqualified for cheating

4/17/2008 – 14-year-old Wesley, the world's youngest grandmaster, has won this year's Dubai Open. Wesley scored 7/9 with a 2708 performance. The event was marred by a case of cheating: an untitled Iranian player was caught receiving moves by SMS on his cellphone. His brilliancies against grandmasters were annulled and the delinquent disqualified. Shocking.

A young grandmaster in a game for his life

4/17/2008 – Dušan Popovic, 25, was supposed to play for the Serbian team at the European Championship. Instead he is engaged in a battle for his life, after both his kidneys failed and, due to his rare blood group, family members could not donate an organ. Now only an operation in Russia can save his life. For this funds of 70,000 Euros need to be found. The Serbian Chess Federation has asked for help.