Khanty-Mansiysk: Gurevich knocks out Kaidanov

11/26/2007 – Mikhail Gurevich, 48 years old, a Ukrainian chess player who moved to Belgium in 1991 and to Turkey in 2005, where he lives today. At his peak Gurevich was consistently ranked in the top ten players in the world. After holding the well respected US GM Gregory Kaidanov to a draw in the regular games Gurevich knocked him out in the tiebreak rapids. GM Efstratios Grivas analyses.

Bob Durrett on specialized databases

11/26/2007 – Our columnist for ChessBase Workshop isn't opposed to stepping down from the soapbox to give someone else a turn. In the latest column, he enlists the support of a friend and e-mail correspondent to clear up an old mystery left hanging from a prior column. Learn more in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

Kasparov arrested in Moscow, jailed for five days

11/25/2007 – Russian police detained opposition leader and former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, and a judge sentenced him to five days in jail in Moscow. About 3,000 protesters attended the rally, including for the first time the leader of one of the mainstream liberal parties – a sign that the movement is growing. News reports, video interview in Fox and a dramatic BBC report of the arrest.

Khanty-Mansiysk: The best-laid plans of men and mice...

11/25/2007 – ... gang aft agley, Robert Burns taught us. Or, in plain English: they often go horribly wrong. As in the FIDE World Cup, where Vassily Ivanchuk duly dispatched his 435-point weaker opponent, but where fellow Ukraine Ruslan Ponomariov, in a fit of overconfidence, faltered against Egypt's Essam El Gindy. Greek grandmaster Efstratios Grivas gives us his take on the drama of round one.

Khanty-Mansiysk: Alekseev and Ponomariov equalise

11/25/2007 – Most of the favourites are through – Ivanchuk, Mamedyarov, Radjabov, Aronian, Shirov, Svidler, Adams, Grischuk, Carlsen and Kamsky. Alekseev struck back against Anuar Ismagambetov, who had taken a full point off him yesterday, to equalise. Ruslan Ponomariov did the same against Essam El Gindy, to go into tiebreak games tomorrow. Illustrated report.

Upsets galore in Round one of the World Cup

11/24/2007 – 126 players are now in Khanty-Mansiysk (two did not turn up) for the FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. This knockout tournament determines who will be the challenger for the next World Championship. In the first game of round one there were a number of surprises, with famous GMs struggling against much lower-ranked players. Illustrated report with games and results.

Become a stronger player with the best Fritz ever

11/23/2007 – Fritz 11 is out and it has it all. The program that beat world champion Kramnik a year ago has been vastly improved in many respects: Fritz 11 comes with more Elo and groundbreaking new training features for improving your rating. It has something for the eye and something for your tactical vision. Buy Fritz 11 now or find out from Matthias Wuellenweber's article what makes Fritz 11 so strong.

World Youth Championship – the joys and pains of chess

11/22/2007 – With beautiful sunny weather outside the 1500 participants from all corners of the globe gather at three p.m. for their daily chess battles. You can watch young players go through the emotional highs of victory and the disappointment of defeat. And after it is all over a team of the Turkish Chess Federation springs into action to tabulate the scores and input the games. Illustrated report.

Ivanchuk wins World Blitz Championship, Anand second

11/22/2007 – It was drama of the highest degree: on the second day of the event World Champion Vishy Anand fought his way to the top to join the leader of the Blitz Championship, Vassily Ivanchuk, in round 29. After 37 of 38 grueling rounds the two were still neck-on-neck and clear of the field. In the last round they played each other – and Anand was two pawns up. Then fate struck.

Ivanchuk leads in World Blitz Championship, Grischuk second

11/22/2007 – The amazing Vassily Ivanchuk is doing it again: on the first day of the World Blitz in Moscow the Ukrainian veteran scored 13.5 points out of the 19 games, beating the likes of Kamsky, Kramnik, Karpov, Gelfand, Adams, Carlsen, Shirov and Grischuk. Half a point behind is Alexander Grischuk, who scored wins over Anand, Kasimdzhanov, Kramnik, Gelfand and Carlsen. Report with pictures and videos.

The Nimzowitsch precepts of positional chess

11/21/2007 – Aaron Nimzowitsch (1886-1935) was one of the great teachers of chess. In tonight's Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos uses a 1922 win by Nimzowitsch to introduce us to hypermodern ideas like overprotection and the blockade. Or as Reuben Fine put it: restrict, blockade, destroy.

World Youth Championship: players and personalities

11/21/2007 – This gigantic event is under way in the Mediterranean town of Kemer-Antalya, Turkey. There are two grandmasters in the top (under 18) group, and many talented young players with and without titles in all sections. The top Turkish players are being trained by Slovenian grandmaster Adrian Mikhalchishin, who celebrated his birthday with his students during round one. Big pictorial report.

Vladimir Kramnik: 'Beating Anand is more important...'

11/21/2007 – ...than topping the FIDE rating list, which is what he will most likely do in January, after his spectacular result at the Tal Memorial is counted. After this victory the former World Champion spoke to chess reporter Yuriy Vasiliev about the event, his rating, his black repertoire, the world blitz championship and the enthusiastic support he receives from his wife Marie-Laure. Sport Express interview.

Kasimdzhanov wins World Blitz Championship Qualifier

11/20/2007 – Former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov won the 64-player Preliminaries to the World Blitz Championship in Moscow. He and five other players qualified for the Finals that will be held on November 21 and 22. They are joined by the ten paticipants of the Tal Memorial, by previous finalists Grischuk and Svidler, as well as Anand and Karpov. Pictures and videos.

Edward Winter presents: Unsolved Chess Mysteries (19)

11/20/2007 – A further selection from Chess Notes focuses on games and positions. Why is it claimed that Rubinstein played an ending that repeated a nineteenth century composition? Did Chigorin remove one of his own pieces from the board in an endgame against Tarrasch? And what about the game which Fahrni purportedly won by moving his remaining pawn backwards? Join in the hunt for clues.

Catch it if you can: Garry Kasparov on CV Warehouse

11/19/2007 – On Monday, November 19 at 18.30 CET, Garry Kasparov will play a simultaneous exhibition against 26 opponents (24 CEOs and two children) in Antwerp, Belgium. Nigel Short will provide commentary. The event will be filmed in HDTV, and everybody can watch the games on a special coverage page. Details are somewhat sketchy, but it's worth a try. Here are details and links.

'The greatest Arab player since Stamma'

11/19/2007 – When was the last time a player from Africa, or one from an Arab country, dominated the chess world? Philipp Stamma did it, back in the 18th century. Now a lad from Egypt, Ahmed Adly, is following in his tracks. First stage: winning the World Junior Championship, ahead of all the hot European and Asian favourites. Adly is a multi-talent that bears careful watching. Meet Ahmed Adly.

Tal Memorial R9: all games drawn, Kramnik triumphs

11/19/2007 – We knew the result already yesterday, and with all final round games drawn nothing basically changed. Vladimir Kramnik stayed 1.5 points ahead of the field, and ended with a 2901 performance, one of the finest of his career. Only one other player had a plus score: Alexei Shirov, who won three and lost two games. The drawing average was high, but most games were hard-fought. Final report.

Hot off the press – Fritz 11 is out!

11/19/2007 – A year ago it became the first commercial chess program to defeat a reigning World Champion. Now the new version is 80 Elo points stronger. It also has an entire package of new features that will help you to improve your game quickly and in an entertaining way. Like the new calculation training, and tactic competitions on the chess server. Order it now or check out the details.

Washington Post: Winning by Rook or by Crook

11/18/2007 – It's been a banner year for cheating scandals in sports. But a couch potato's juices really start to flow when the epidemic spreads to chess. Paul Hoffman was particularly horrified that an eight-year-old participant at a children's championship was accused of receiving illicit help. The journalist, author and chess aficionado vents his frustration in today's Washington Post op ed piece.

Tal Memorial: Kramnik leads by a full point

11/18/2007 – Vladimir Kramnik increased his lead when he beat Evgeny Alexseev in round six. Top US grandmaster Gata Kamsky lost with white to Jakovenko in round six, only to come back with a black-piece win over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in round seven. Alexei Shirov beat Magnus Carlsen and Evgeny Alekseev to advance to second place. Exciting games.

Tania Sachdev wins Indian Women’s Championship

11/18/2007 – She started as third seed, and went through the event without a single defeat – the only player with this record. In the final round WGM Tania Sachdev beat Padmini Rout to win the 34th Women’s National A Chess Championship on tiebreak points, ahead of Kiran Monisha Mohanty and Soumya Swaminathan. With this result all three have qualified for the 2008 Olympic team. Pictorial report.

Vladimir Kramnik wins the Tal Memorial with a round to spare

11/18/2007 – Former world champion wrapped up this event in impressive style, beating Shakhriyar Mamedyrov in the penultimate round and taking a 1.5 point lead over his closest opponent. Kramnik has not lost a game and won four of his five white games. His rating performance so far: 2920. In second place is Alexei Shirov with three wins and two losses. Games, results and videos.

World Youth Chess Championship in Antalya

11/18/2007 – It is one of the biggest events of its kind in the world, the starting point for new chess talent, a gathering of young chess players, 1450 of them from 103 countries around the globe. The tournament in twelve separate categories is being held in twelve age groups for boys and girls. A warm welcome awaited us on our arrival in the Turkish Mediterranean town of Kemer-Antalya. Big pictorial report.