The Russians are coming – in chessboxing

7/9/2008 – Having enjoyed recent success in soccer, basketball and ice hockey, Russia is now also able to boast a world champion in the little-known sport of chessboxing. Russia's Nikolai Sazhin, a 19-year-old mathematics student from the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, defeated light heavyweight defending champion Frank Stoldt, a 37-year-old policeman from Germany, to lift the world chess boxing title.

Kiev Life Rapid: Karjakin beat Short 7.5:2.5

7/8/2008 – They worked together in Nigel's home in Greece, and almost got themselves killed in a traffic accident. But Sergey Karjakin, 25 years younger than Nigel Short, completely outmatched him in the rapid chess match in the Academic Puppet Theatre in Kiev, Ukraine. On the final day the youngster won both games to finish with a five-point lead. Illustrated report.

Viktor Korchnoi vs the King's Indian Defense

7/8/2008 – Few players have been as implacably opposed to a major opening as Viktor Korchnoi has been to the KID. For at least five decades he has been in the vanguard of those combating this opening, developing countless new ideas in the struggle to prove an advantage for the white pieces. In his Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos shows a milestone example from 1987. Learn and enjoy.

ChessBase 10 – you don't need to wait!

7/8/2008 – It's been a couple of years in the making, but now the latest chess database program is in production, a product from the company that pioneered the the technology. ChessBase 10 provides you super-fast access to an online database with the latest chess games, kept topical and up-to-date by ChessBase. the perfect preparation tool you cannot afford to miss. Order now.

Putting chess through the satirical grinder

7/7/2008 – Uncyclopedia is a satirically themed encyclopedia, formatted as a parody of Wikipedia. Its logo is a hollowed potato that serves as a spoof of Wikipedia's globe logo. Uncyclopedia has a longish article on chess, with many links to satirical subarticles. Funny or not, you must decide. You can also compare it to the 'best short humorous chess sketch ever written’

Tweaking Fritz - PART 9

7/7/2008 – In the final installment of the ChessBase Workshop series on tweaking the various general settings in Fritz, we explore the ins and outs of the "Design" tab settings. Find out more in the latest Workshop.

Izmit: Truva wins Turkish League 2008 with 15/15 points

7/6/2008 – The İş Bank Chess League is a round robin event with 16 teams, each consisting of ten boards. One is reserved for women, one for a junior, one each for boys and girls under 16, and under 14. So it was not enough to import Georgian and Azerbaijani GMs, you had to have young local talent as well. The team of Truva Satranç Spor Kulübü won every match and the league. Big pictorial report.

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...