Tromsø – a Chess Olympiad in the midnight sun?

11/18/2008 – It lies well within the Arctic Circle and has a history of chess activity. Now the city of Tromsø is bidding to host the 2014 Chess Olympiad in one of the most attractive regions of Europe. A full presentation is being made at the Olympiad in Dresden. We visited the city this summer and support their bid with some WYSIWYG evidence of why it is ideally suited for an Olympiad. Photo report.

Olympiad R4: Germany ahead of Russia

11/17/2008 – Talk about home advantage: the German Olympiad team is in the lead, a few tiebreak points ahead of Russia, both teams having won all their matches so far. Israel beat Egypt in a somewhat charged political match. In the women's section China and Poland have won all their matches and lead with 8/8. We bring you results, games and once again a giant pictorial report.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (12)

11/17/2008 – The Editor of Chess Notes has been working with the Chief Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary on chess lexicology. Three fields are covered: the oldest occurrences of chess terms, unusual vocabulary, and ‘chessy’ words. Enter the world of the skewer, x-ray attack, sui-mate, pedaneous chess, and chessikins. We present the current listings, and readers are invited to contribute further citations.

Olympiad R3: Norway beats China, Ugandans forfeited

11/16/2008 – The shocker of round three was nineteenth seed Norway's 2.5:1.5 win over third seed China. Armenia and Germany won to take first and second place on the table. The Ugandan team appeared for the round with only one player, owing to visa problems, and have sent an urgent appeal for assistance. In the women's section top seed, Russia almost lost to eleventh seed India. Big pictorial report.

Olympiad R2: Azerbaijan and Armenia lead, US twice upset

11/15/2008 – After two rounds at the Olympiad in Dresden 20 teams have four points each, with Azerbaijan and Armenia leading on tiebreak points. The upset was the 2:2 draw between 10th seed US against 27th ranked Greece. In the women's section Israel, ranked 21st, beat the seventh seed Americans. Fourteen teams lead with four points each, with Russia ahead on tiebreaks. Massive photo report.

Olympiad R1: Azerbaijan and Armenia score 4-0

11/14/2008 – The first round of the Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany, began with white-wash victories by Azerbaijan and Armenia. Host Germany defeated Scotland 3.5:0.5, and the second team actually beat Bulgaria 2.5:1.5. In the women's section Russia crushed Azerbaijan 4-0, while Germany was held by Iran. We bring you the results of the top boards and photographic impressions of the participants.

Kamsky-Topalov: Bulgarian offer, Chernenko's $935,000 guarantee

11/14/2008 – The Bulgarian Chess Federation confirmed that it wishes to host the match, but is "extremely surprised why the financial arrangements have been changed" [from $150,00 to $250,000]. Now Gata Kamsky's manager Oleksandr Chernenko tells us that his US $935,000 bid will be transferred to FIDE the moment he sees the contracts and knows what he is paying for. Open letters.

Chess Olympiad in Dresden – the Opening Ceremony

11/13/2008 – German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble was present, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov could not attend, owing to a car accident he suffered in Moscow on the previous day. The 38th Chess Olympiad began with a spectacular opening ceremony, which took place in a giant ice skating hall (and on ice!). Delegations from 152 nations saw a very impressive show. Pictures and videos.

Ponomariov: 'Probably I became world champion too early'

11/12/2008 – Ruslan Ponomariov was born on October 11 1983 in Ukraine. At the age of fourteen he became the youngest ever player at that time to be awarded the GM title. In 2002, at 18, he beat his fellow countryman Vassily Ivanchuk to win the FIDE world championship. A planned match against Garry Kasparov fell through the following year. Here's a candid interview with Ponomariov at 25.

Remembering Lembit Oll

11/11/2008 – Our Playchess lecturer Dennis Monokroussos takes a look back at a career highlight of the late great Estonian grandmaster Lembit Oll, whose life tragically ended in 1999 at the age of 33. The 1982 Estonian Champion was a great player and a great theoretician. This Wednesday Dennis will show us how Oll helped put a French Defense line out of business. Be there at 9 p.m. ET.

Vladimir Kramnik: My Path to the Top

11/11/2008 – He may have recently lost a match to Vishy Anand, but Vladimir Kramnik has won three World Championships in his time, and has been a force in major tournaments for over a decade now. Given these successes, there was plenty of material for ChessBase's DVD product Vladimir Kramnik: My Path to the Top. It includes over six hours of video, all narrated by Kramnik himself. Review.

The 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden begins on Wednesday

11/11/2008 – It starts in the evening at 20:08h local time (reflects the year 2008 – get it?) with a big opening gala which has show stars and musical performances. Over 500 persons are involved in the show. If you cannot be in Dresden you can still catch the opening ceremony and the rest of the event on the Chess Olympiad TV. And on Playchess, which will broadcast 32 games plus video interviews. Details.

World Blitz Championship in Apple City

11/10/2008 – Did you know that domestic apples come from a wild species called Malus sieversii. And that you can still find trees bearing these ur-apples in Alma Ata ("Apple city") or Almaty, as it is called today. Last weekend the World Blitz Championship was held there, and won by Cuban GM Lenier Dominguez. Here from Kasakhstan is a big pictorial report by Alexander von Gleich.

The Great ChessBase Simul Hunt (4)

11/9/2008 – Our Simul Hunt series continues with Karsten Müller’s annotations to games submitted by readers in Brazil, Italy, Switzerland and the United States. The masters featured include Henrique Mecking (facing the Marshall Attack) and Vladimir Kramnik, and there is also a 23-move brilliancy in which two masters played in tandem. Discover these entertaining and instructive games.

Four more years – Yazici reelected TCF President

11/9/2008 – Obama won on Tuesday (if you were following the news), and on Saturday the General Congress of the Turkish Chess Federation voted to keep incumbent President Ali Nihat Yazici in office for another term. Yazici beat off a strong challenge by a group led by the sports administrator Veli Ozan Çakir and supported by the country's first and only native GM Suat Atalik. Pictorial report.

Gata Kamsky: 'The time for the negotiation is over'

11/8/2008 – "The only way to fight FIDE is to expose their mistakes," writes the World Championship candidate, "and fight them in a court of law. I would respectfully request all USCF Board members to unite and find ways to make sure that justice and fairness will prevail." Kamsky accuses FIDE of providing Topalov a backdoor into the final steps of the qualification proceedings. Open letter.

Dominguez-Perez wins World Blitz Championship in Almaty

11/8/2008 – What a surprise: Ivanchuk second, Svidler third, Grischuk fourth, with Radjabov and Mamedyarov following up. But first place and $68,000 were snapped up by Lenier Dominguez-Perez, a talented young grandmaster from Cuba, who scored 11.5/15 against the big boys. Judit Polgar was last, with a dismal 2.5/15. Congratulations Leinier.

World Blitz Chess Championship Almaty 2008

11/7/2008 – This 16-player round robin will take place in the Republic of Kazakhstan on November 7 and 8, at five-minute time controls without increment. The prize fund is $300,000, with first place picking up $68,000. The contenders are Morozevich, Ivanchuk, Radjabov, Mamediarov, Kamsky and Svidler. But don't count out blitz expert Grischuk. You can watch live on the official site and on Playchess.

Roustam Kamsky: 'Gata’s life could be in danger'

11/7/2008 – Yesterday we published a press release by FIDE which re-opened the bidding for the Kamsky-Topalov World Championship qualification match. Today we received a letter from Gata Kamsky's father protesting this decision and the pressure it put on the players to confirm their participation in a match for which no specific conditions are known. Open letters by Roustam Kamsky and the USCF.

Master of the Universe, Lord of the Rings

11/7/2008 – What does the name "Viswanathan" mean? The original Sanskrit translates to "Master" (nath) "of the Universe" (vishwa). Anand himself somewhat flippantly tells us it means "Lord of the Rings". The Indian magazine Sportstar chose the former translation for the title page of its latest issue, which devotes a cover story and an indepth interview to the Indian World Champion. Long interesting read.

Kamsky-Topalov match to be held in Bulgaria – maybe

11/6/2008 – The Bulgarian Chess Federation had made a $150,000 bid for this special qualifier match for the world championship, but then Gata Kamsky's manager Alexander Chernenko offered a $750,000 prize fund for it in Lvov, Ukraine. Unfortunately the bank garantees were not forthcoming, and after a final deadline FIDE has reopened the bidding procedure. Press release.

Anand vs Kramnik – the final act

11/5/2008 – In his last show on the World Championship match our Playchess lecturer Dennis Monokroussos looks at the two halves: the first in which Anand dominated in every respect; and the second, where Kramnik fought back. Dennis explains games nine, ten and eleven, which concluded the event. Good and interesting games one and all. 9 p.m. ET on the server.

Kasparov urges Obama: now's the time for decisive action

11/5/2008 – Part of the success in yesterday's US election can be attributed to the simple fact that Barack Obama isn't George W. Bush, that bouquet of classic American stereotypes that are so easy to hate. But now that we have the change that we can believe in it is time to back up inspiring rhetoric with decisive action. More in Garry Kasparov's editorial piece.

Vlastimil Hort: Facing the World Champions

11/5/2008 – During his career, Vlastimil Hort played against no less than eight world champions over the board: Mikhail Botvinnik, Mihail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Vassily Smyslov, Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. Now the Czech-German GM has produced a remarkable DVD with a chapter devoted to each of them. Unique insights of a great player.