Dortmund R7: Leko wins Sparkassen Meeting, Ivanchuk beats Kramnik

7/6/2008 – Peter Leko, who was in the lead after the penultimate round, drew his game in 31 moves. Since his closest rivals, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Jan Gustafsson drew their game (in 22 moves) Leko became the sole winner with his plus two score. The shocker came when Vladimir Kramnik stumbled against Ivanchuk to end in seventh place. Final report.

Kiev Life Rapid: Karjakin wins after eight of ten rounds

7/6/2008 – Sergey Karjakin, 18-year-old GM from Ukraine, scored in games five and seven to clinch the Life Rapid Chess Match against Nigel Short, 43, from Great Britain, a full day before it ended. The score after eight of ten rounds: 5½-2½. Together with the games and results we bring you new pictures from the action in Kiev's beautiful Academic Puppet Theatre. Savour the atmosphere.

Kiev Life Rapid: Karjakin leads Short 3:1

7/5/2008 – On the second day Nigel Short, desperate to break his opponent's clean 2-0 score, played the – Alekhine's Defence. He hung on bravely for 35 moves but then collapsed under the pressure from his young opponent Sergey Karjakin. In the fourth game, with moral support from organiser Bessel Kok, Nigel at last struck back. Pictorial report by Anastasiya Karlovich on chess in the Puppet Theatre.

Dortmund R6: Leko beats Gustafsson, takes the lead

7/5/2008 – The penultimate round in the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting saw Peter Leko score a fine black-piece victory over yesterday's leader Jan Gustafsson, taking a point and the lead from the German grandmaster. Loek van Wely blundered again to lose to Arkadij Naiditsch. Tomorrow Gustafsson and Nepomniachtchi play against each other with chances to catch Leko. Round six report.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (4)

7/4/2008 – The Editor of Chess Notes has selected the five worst chess books in English from the past two decades. This grisly matter is not for the faint-hearted, although there are touches of black comedy and farce in the egregious books chosen for the Chamber of Horrors. Warning to readers of a sensitive nature or nervous disposition: do not enter.

Dortmund R5: Gustafsson beats van Wely, leads the event

7/4/2008 – With two rounds to go (and no more rest days) German GM Jan Gustafsson scored a second point, with black in an 18-move miniature against Loek van Wely. Jan is now at plus two, half a point ahead of Peter Leko and poised to win the tournament. Vassily Ivanchuk climbed to 50% with a win over Arkadij Naiditsch. The other games were drawn. Round five report.

From Kiev life it's – Nigel Short vs Sergey Karjakin

7/3/2008 – The event is taking place in the Academic Puppet Theatre, lasts five days and encompasses ten rapid chess games between the former world championship challenger and a former record-breaking child prodigy. After an evening of press conferences and wild festivities it was the younger player who started with a clearer head. Karjakin won both games.

Chessboxing World Championship 2008 in Berlin

7/3/2008 – In October there is one between Anand and Kramnik in Bonn. But that will be peaceful compared to the World Championship that is scheduled in Berlin this weekend. There four minutes of chess are interspersed with three minutes of violent pugilistic activities. We bring you photos and videos – and we also found out what FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov thinks about this sport.

Dortmund R4: Nepomniachtchi beats van Wely, joins the leaders

7/2/2008 – Ian Nepomniachtchi, the youngest player in Dortmund (he turns 18 in two weeks), scored his first win, beating Dutch GM Loek van Wely in 48 moves. Ian joins Jan Gustafsson and Peter Leko at "plus one", which is enough to lead after four of the seven rounds. The other games were drawn. The other games were drawn; the draw quota is 69% – with all wins scored by White. Round four report.

Chess in Iran: Premier League after five rounds

7/2/2008 – The third round of Iranian Premier League took place on Wednesday, June 25th, in Sari, the capital city of Mazandaran, a beautiful and green province on the south coast of Caspian Sea. There were a lot of surprises, as when GM Tigran Petrosian with the white pieces was held to a draw by the untitled Mehdi Atabaki, who is rated exactly 562 points lower. Report by FM Arash Akbarinia.

The secret filling station of Vassily Ivanchuk

7/1/2008 – In the restaurant in Linares, scene of the annual Super-GM tournament, Garry Kasparov always had a permanent table for his entourage, and a chair that was only his. One day Vassily Ivanchuk sat down on that chair, with a very specific goal in mind. In his Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos shows us the result: Ivanchuk blasted Topalov off the board in just 25 moves. Enjoy.

Grand Slam Chess Final Masters Bilbao

7/1/2008 – It has been tried before, with success: top-level chess played in a glass "aquarium", where the public can approach the tables without disturbing the players. This time it's in September in Bilbao, Spain, on the Town Square. Anand, Carlsen, Ivanchuk, Topalov, Radjabov and Aronian take part in a unique tournament with no draw offers and the football scoring system of 3-1-0. Press release.

Dortmund R3: Naiditsch beats Kramnik with sensational rook sacrifice

7/1/2008 – A very dramatic day in Dortmund. While three games ended in relatively uneventful draws (in 19, 27 and 31 moves) the second-youngest player, Arkadij Naiditsch, uncorked a giant novelty against Vladimir Kramnik's Petroff Defence. It worked like clockwork and Naiditsch took home his first point. Mind you it turns out that Garry Kasparov had analysed this move nine years ago. Round three report.

5th Dato’ Arthur Tan Open – Malaysia, truly Asia

6/30/2008 – It’s almost July and in about a month and a half Mid Valley City in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will see the arrival of grandmasters, IMs, players, enthusiasts and fans from around the world for the 5th IGB Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysia Open. With a $24,000 prize fund it will be the richest ever edition in the series. Participants can relax and sight-see in the beautiful country. Register now.

Anand tops July 1st 2008 FIDE ratings, Carlsen sixth

6/30/2008 – Actually the news is: Magnus Carlsen is only sixth on the official FIDE list, although up-to-date rating calculations put him on a history-making second place. The media (and chess fans) assumed that would be his place on the FIDE list, but a missed deadline thwarted that. Alexander Morozevich is second Vassily Ivanchuk third. Here are the FIDE and the Live Rating lists.

Tweaking Fritz - PART 8

6/30/2008 – The "Language" options in Fritz sometimes confuse even experienced users of the software. Our ChessBase Workshop columnist solves the mysteries and describes the settings in his latest column. Workshop...

The United Kingdom – once more, with feeling

6/29/2008 – Our original "gratuitous aside" about British sporting representation led to passionate responses from people for or against devolution or federalism. Scottish GM Jonathan Rowson and British GM Nigel Short made strong statements, and now their views have spilled over into a Scottish newspaper. We bring you excerpts and a final installment of some eminently enjoyable readers' feedback.

Romain Edouard wins Lyon Rapid on tiebreak

6/29/2008 – The French call it un blitz de départage «mort subite» – a sudden death blitz game. The Aspiring Youth Rapid Chess Championship, staged in Lyon to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the French Chess Magazine Europe Echecs, went down to the wire, with 18-year-old IM Romain Edouard beating 17-year-old Sébastien Feller in the tiebreak. Final pictorial and video report from Lyon.

Dortmund R2: Kramnik, Leko and Gustafsson win

6/29/2008 – Vladimir Kramnik outwitted Loek van Wely in a highly tactical Queen's Gambit Declined and clinched the point in 29 moves. Peter Leko had to work harder and longer – 57 moves – against Vassily Ivanchuk in a Sicilian Taimanov. Jan Gustafsson (thumbnail) whipped up a deadly attack after strategic errors by Arkadij Naiditsch. Round two report.

Chess at 1700 meters: Turkish İş Bank Chess League

6/28/2008 – The Turkish İş Bank Chess League is taking place from June 23 to July 3, 2008, with 22 GMs, 18 IMs, 15 FMs, 15 WGMs, 2 WIMs and 2 WFMs participating. It is taking place in a mountain resort near Izmit, just east of Istanbul, at an altitude of 6000 feet. We have a beautiful pictorial report brough to you from the Kartepe Mountain Resort by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich and Özgür Akman.

First «Circuit des Espoirs Europe Echecs» in Lyon

6/28/2008 – Why are these fair maidens playing chess with the names of two famous world champions affixed to their table? They are part of a "Young Hopefuls" tournament to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the French Magazine Europe Echecs – and playing in the exact location where Kasparov played Karpov in 1990. The twelfth champion is a special guest. Pictorial and video report from Lyon.

Dortmund R1: All games drawn in Sparkassen Meeting

6/28/2008 – Gustafsson-Kramnik, an Exchange Grünfeld, ended in a symmetrical rook ending and a draw in 29 moves. Naiditsch-Nepomnaichtchi, a Sicilian Najdorf, saw White with some chances but ended in repetition after 30 moves. Mamedyarov vs Leko was a Sämisch and drawn after 24 moves. Ivanchuk-van Wely was a Scheveningen with a drawn queen ending in 39 moves. Illustrated report.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (3)

6/27/2008 – The Editor of Chess Notes rounds off his examination of old masters’ choices of their best games, and for this second part the cast includes Emanuel Lasker, Akiba Rubinstein and Max Euwe. Full scores of all 22 games are provided in replayable form, together with background jottings and a further nomination for 'the perfect game'. See Part II now.

Put a Nigel in Your Tank

6/27/2008 – Good news for consumers of chess software: the price of ChessBase DVDs has not been raised, while the quality stays tops. Nigel Davies is a good example, says Bob Long, who watched Nigel's DVD on the King's Indian Attack. Fasten your seat belts and enjoy this 5+ hours crash course with masterpieces by Fischer, Morozevich, and more. Buy it now or read Bob Long's review.