Morozevich leads in Sarejevo, King's tournament in Bazna

5/27/2008 – The traditional Sahovski Klub tournament is taking place in Sarajevo, Bosnia. After four rounds the draw average is 75%, but of the three wins two were produced by Alexander Morozevich, who leads with 3.0/4. Meanwhile in Bazna the King's Tournament is being held, with eleven famous (and mainly veteran) players. Results, games and links.

Death of a chess original – Bukhuti Gurgenidze, 1933–2008

5/26/2008 – Bukhuti Ivanovich Gurgenidze was one of the most original and striking players of the Soviet era. He won the Championship of his native Georgia eleven (or twelve) times, competed in nine USSR Championship finals, and was the trainer of some of the most successful women players in the game. His name has been applied to variations in the Modern Defence and the Sicilian. In Memoriam.

Stars from the Chinese League

5/26/2008 – China is one of the great emerging chess nations and has been playing an increasingly dominant role in recent international events. The Chinese Chess League has attracted 26 GMs, three IMs, and eleven WGMs. Nobody can afford to ignore these players or their league, and we are grateful to Yaoyao (Crystal) Zhu for providing us with all the necessary introductions.

Tweaking Fritz - PART 4

5/26/2008 – The subject of our latest ChessBase Workshop column is the "Multimedia" tab under "Options" in Fritz11. Learn how to make Fritz talk (or shut him up!), plus the difference between "Talk" and "Chatter". You'll also learn how to make Fritz play music, all in the newest Workshop.

Nielsen, Hector, Klimov win active chess slugfest

5/25/2008 – A strong active chess tournament in Denmark turned into a combative chess event. With more than 90% of all games having a decisive result all participants did their best to hush speculations on chess being a drawish game! The winners were the first, fourth and fifth seeds, the first being birthday boy Peter Heine Nielsen, second of two world champions. Illustrated report.

Shulman wins US Championship; Zatonskih wins Women's Title

5/23/2008 – GM Yury Shulman won the 2008 Frank K. Berry U.S. Championship with 7/9, with IM Johhua Friedel completing his final GM norm. In the Women's Championship IMs Anna Zatonskih and Irina Krush tied for first, then went into dramatic blitz tiebreaks, which Anna won in the last possible second. You can watch the scene in a new version of this dramatic video.

Listen the magician talk through his secrets

5/23/2008 – Going out for a win with the black pieces is a hard task for amateur players like most of us but for top players it is not really better - as long as they play opponents of their own level of course. On his latest DVD Alexei Shirov illustrates in another 13 of his masterpieces what must all be considered in order to achieve one's end here. Buy it now or read more.

GM Nigel's Radio Revs – here to answer you questions

5/22/2008 – Once a week grandmaster Nigel Davies gives live online training on the Playchess server, from 11 p.m. to 12 a.m. UK time. That means it starts at midnight CEST, 6 p.m. New York or 08:00 a.m. Sidney. This week the subject is ways to avoid theoretical duels and gambit lines. Send in your questions.

Invitation to the 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden

5/22/2008 – Attention all chess federations and national teams. Attention FIDE officials and dignitaries. Attention chess fans. The 38th Chess Olympiad will be staged in the city of Dresden, Saxony, Germany, from November 12 to 25, 2008. During the time a FIDE Congress will also be held. For those wishing to participate or attend here are all the most important details.

Dominguez Perez wins the 43rd Capablanca Memorial

5/22/2008 – It was the 43rd edition of a great and prestigeous event, and was won by Cuba's top GM Lenier Dominguez Perez, who took clear first with 6.0/9 points. Unfortunately no games are yet available from Havana, Cuba, where the event took place. But: we have received splendid pictures and impressions from one of the players. Enjoy part one of Sergey Tiviakov's pictorial report from Cuba.

World Championship in 145 days – book your tickets now

5/21/2008 – The first round of the World Championship match between the reigning title holder Viswanathan Anand and challenger Vladimir Kramnik starts on October 14th 2008 in Bonn, Germany. Tickets are now on sale and cost 35 Euro (= US $54.80) per round. Special VIP tickets are also available, at 280 Euro (US $438) per round. Here is everything you need to know.

Evgeniy Najer wins President's Cup in Baku

5/21/2008 – The ninth seed finished in undivided first place, with 7.5/9 points, to win the $7000 prize. Evgeniy Najer was followed by eight GMs with 7.0 points each. We bring you the final standings and games, and lots of great pictures by Farid Khayrulin. Twelve were originally of unidentified players, but within hours our readers provided their names. Spectacular pictorial report.

2008 US Championships: Shulman and Zatonskih lead

5/20/2008 – GM Yury Shulman leads the 2008 Frank K. Berry US Championship by a full point, with three rounds to go. Shulman has wins against GMs Gregory Kaidanov, Boris Gulko and Sergey Kudrin. IM Anna Zatonskih is leading the Women’s section, with a perfect 6.0/6 score, half a point more than her main rival IM Irina Krush. Illustrated report.

The Great Draw Debates summarized: definitions, causes, effects

5/20/2008 – Over the past weeks we have received well over 300 letters from readers about the draw issues in chess, and more continue to arrive. Ironically, as the letters have accumulated it has become increasingly unclear exactly what the potential draw problems are in the first place, if any. In today's article we categorize and interrelate the best new and old letters we have received. Is there consensus?

Kramnik beats Navara 5.5:2.5 in Prague Rapid

5/19/2008 – Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik took a decisive 3.5:0.5 lead in the first half of the eight-game CEZ Chess Trophy. After the rest day David Navara fought back, losing a game and almost winning two himself. In one he let his opponent escape with a draw, and the last one ended in victory. Of the five wins in this match two were with the black pieces. Pictorial report.

MTel R10: Ivanchuk wins Sofia by 1½ points

5/18/2008 – Ivan Cheparinov threw everything at him, but Vassily Ivanchuk defended coolly and scored a final black-piece victory to clinch the 2008 MTel Masters, with 8.0/10 and a performance of 2977. Second was Veselin Topalov, who drew Radjabov to end at 6.5/10, with a 2839 performance. We bring you a final report with commentary, pictures and more great videos by Europe Echecs.

Tweaking Fritz - PART 3

5/18/2008 – Our ChessBase Workshop series on "Fritz11 tweaks" finishes the settings contained under the "Game" tab, specifically the Coach settings and the list of "on/off" toggles at the bottom of the dialogue. Discover more ways to configure your Fritz in the latest Workshop.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (2) – now a prize quiz

5/17/2008 – The positions presented by the Editor of Chess Notes have proved so intriguing that the feature is now transformed into a prize quiz, with two positions added. The sender of the best solutions will receive a copy of Vishy Anand’s book My Best Games of Chess, personally inscribed to the winner by the world champion. There are signed consolation prizes too. Let battle begin.

MTel R9: Bu beats Topalov, Ivanchuk leads

5/17/2008 – Bulgaria's top grandmaster Veselin Topalov, rated 2767, had won three of his last four games; Chinese GM Bu Xiangzhi, 2708, had lost three of his last four encounters and was languishing at the bottom of the table. Today they met head-on, and Bu won the game! With a round to go Vassily Ivanchuk is a full point ahead and playing "goal-keeper". Illustrated report with videos.

MTel R8: Topalov and Radjabov win

5/17/2008 – Veselin Topalov had little difficulty beating his second Ivan Cheparinov, while Levon Aronian blundered one move before the time controls (see his round seven interview) to throw away the full point against Teimour Radjabov. Meanwhile Vassily Ivanchuk was lucky to survive against tail-ender Bu Xiangzhi. Full report with a simultaneous exhibition and interview with Boris Spassky.

Najer leads in the President's Cup in Baku

5/16/2008 – 180 players, GMs as far as the eye can see. Korchnoi, Timman, Short and Beliavsky. In the lead is Evgeniy Najer, GM from Russia, who has won all of his first five games. The Third President's Cup is under way in the capital of Azerbaijan, with the stars playing in the Open and separate groups for children and seniors. We bring you standings, games and pictures by Farid Khayrulin.

MTel R6: Topalov and Cheparinov win, Ivanchuk draws

5/15/2008 – The shocker of round six: Vassily Ivanchuk only drew his game against Teimour Radjabov, the first time he has dropped half a point in this tournament. His performance has dropped to a dismal 3155. Both Bulgarians, Cheparinov and Topalov, won their games and are in second and third place. A prominent visitor was Boris Spassky, who commentated for the spectators. Full pictorial report.

'Hao shi duo mo!' – Wang Yue on the Grand Prix in Baku

5/15/2008 – This is something new: a blog report by a top Chinese GM, describing the course of a Super-GM tournament. Wang Yue talks about the circumstances surrounding the First FIDE Grand Prix, which he won last week in Baku (together with Gashimov and Carlsen). Of course in Chinese, but thankfully translated by one of our readers. Thanks also to "Big Sister", who forced him to write it.

MTel R7: Ivanchuk and Topalov draw, Bu loses to Radjabov

5/15/2008 – The summit match between top seed Veselin Topalov and tournament uberplayer Vassily Ivanchuk ended in a hard-fought 49-move draw. Ivanchuk continues to lead Topalov by a full point, while the Bulgarian is a point and a half ahead of the next-best players. Teimour Radjabov beat the luckless Bu Xiangzhi, who has 1.0/7 and a performance of 2427. Full report.