Halloween special: the worst in chess

10/31/2007 – Normally, in his Thursday night Playchess lecture, Dennis Monokroussos celebrates spectacular, brilliant and instructive games in chess. But in the spirit of the season this week we take a perverse pleasure in the worst of chess, especially when it’s the world’s best who are the victims. Think you messed up last week at the club? You’ve got nothing on these guys. Nine p.m. ET.

ETCC: Russia, Azerbaijan lead, Poland heads women's section

10/31/2007 – In round four of the European Team Championship Russia beat Slovenia and Azerbaijan the Netherlands, which meant that the latter teams dropped out of the top group, which is now occupied by Russia and Azerbaijan. In the women's section Poland beat France while Russia and Hungary drew their encounter. Poland leads. Results, tables and games.

ETCC: Seven teams with maximum board points

10/31/2007 – After three rounds of the European Team Championship in Crete, Greece four teams are left in the men's section with the maximum of six board points: Slovenia, Azerbaidjan, Netherlands and Russia. In the women's section it is three teams: Hungary, Poland and Russia. We bring you full results, tables and games.

Boris Gelfand: 'There are not enough places for everyone'

10/31/2007 – The oldest player – at 39 – in the World Championship in Mexico almost pulled off a surprise win, always staying within striking distance of the ultimate winner Vishy Anand – the second oldest player. In the end Boris Gelfand shared 2nd-3rd with Vladimir Kramnik. But he improved his "invitability" to top chess events further. What about the others? Interview with Boris Gelfand.

Sixth North American FIDE Invitational in Chicago

10/31/2007 – The “windy city's” biggest claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of one Robert J. Fischer. But now Chicago has, as Yogi Berra might say, a great history ahead of it. The North American Chess Association is staging an invitational with nine titled player – an ideal event for the event’s norm seekers. Most intriguing is an FM who who turned 13 just a few days before the event started. Illustrated report.

NEW: Shredder 11 and Deep Shredder 11

10/31/2007 – Only Shredder can do it! For the past eight years this program has won world championship titles with monotonous regularity. Now Shredder 11 is out. Programmer Stefan Meyer-Kahlen has been hard at work, so that this record run is in no danger of being broken. The strength of the new program has been increased by no less than 100 Elo points. Buy Shredder 11 now or read more.

ETCC: Russian men and women beat Armenia 2.5:1.5

10/30/2007 – In both the men's and the women's sections Russia faced its arch-rival Armenia (remember: they won the 2006 Olympiad in Turin) at the European Team Championship in Crete. The result was identical in both matches. The Ukrainian men drew Spain while the women trounced England. Nine men's and six women's teams have maximum board points. Results, games and pictures.

An indepth discussion with Alexander the Great

10/30/2007 – Amongst players of the younger generation Alexander Morozevich is a cult figure. His uncompromising playing style, the unique, daring forays into the unknown have brought this 30-year-old more fans than just about anyone in the chess world. After the Mexican World Championship he has been very active and is now playing in the European Team Championship. Interview with Yuri Vasiliev.

European Team Championships in Crete, Greece

10/29/2007 – Of the 197 players in the unrestricted ("men's") section 66 are rated 2600 or higher. The Russian team has brought no player rated below 2700, and the average rating of the team is 2726. In the women's section there are 146 players, of whom six are full ("male") GMs, and 35 are rated over 2400. The nine round Swiss tournament goes from October 28 to November 6. Round one report.

Mukachevo: Leko equalises, Ivanchuk wins blitz tiebreak

10/29/2007 – After eight rounds Vassily Ivanchuk was leading this 12-game rapid chess match by two full points, and Peter Leko had to win twice in the last four games. Which he duly did, thank you. Now two blitz games had to decide the outcome, and Leko held the first effortlessly with the black pieces. However in the final game it was Ivanchuk who won and took overall victory. Report.

Ivanchuk strikes again, leads Leko by 5:3

10/28/2007 – Déjà vu: the first rapid chess game on day two in Mukachevo ended in a draw, in the second Vassily Ivanchuk triumphed with the white pieces, and the last two games were drawn. Just like on day one. The Ukranian star and world's second highest ranked player now leads by two points, which means that Peter Leko must win two games tomorrow just to catch up. Report and games.

The 'Bilbao Draw' – how it doesn't solve the problem

10/28/2007 – Chess fans and organisers all over the world are worried about the problem of too many draws in chess. Actually: about pre-arranged or unfought draws. Many remedies have been tried, including threats, prohibition and, most recently, the Bilbao system of awarding three points for a win and one for a draw. Is that the solution? No, says one astute reader and points to a possibly fatal flaw.

A chess feast in Château de Villandry

10/28/2007 – The location was magical: a Renaissance châteaux on the banks of the Loire, with decorative and herbal gardens that must be seen to be believed. A pianist gives a recital of music by Danican Philidor, and four great chess masters (Korchnoi, Fressinet, Kosteniuk and Skripchenko) play a chess tournament. One of the games is the longest rapid chess game in history. Report with pictures and videos.

Nakamura wins Magistral D'Escacs in Barcelona

10/27/2007 – US Grandmaster and former child prodigy Hikaru Nakamura, who turns 20 in December, dominated the strong Barcelona tournament from the start. After six rounds he had collected 5.0 points with an Elo performance of over 2900. Then came a shock loss, from which he recovered nicely with two final round wins, to take first place by a full point. Report and games.

Bilbao vs Durban – Rapid Chess over 8800 km

10/26/2007 – Until a few years ago encounters between chess teams from different cities were fairly expensive – prohibitively so if they were many thousands of kilometers apart. Today that has changed. The organisers of the Bilbao Blindfold World Cup, using Playchess.com, were able to stage an eight-board match between the Basque city and the South African Durban. How things have changed!

Ivanchuk leads in rapid chess match in Mukachevo

10/26/2007 – Vassily Ivanchuk, 38 years old, is on a career high. After occupying second place in the October world rankings the Ukrainian GM is now dominating the rapid chess match against Peter Leko. In the first four games he won one and came close to winning two further points. The match lasts three days and is played over twelve games. Will it be the first of a long series?

Gelfand's book of memorable games

10/25/2007 – Israeli grandmaster Boris Gelfand isn't generally counted among the more dynamic players of our era. The reasons for this are his use of the Catalan and the Petroff, paired with an inadequate antipathy toward short draws. But overall it's a mistake, as we'll see in our Thursday night Playchess lecture by Dennis Monokroussos. Nine p.m. ET.

Viktor Mikhalevski wins Calvia International Open

10/25/2007 – He started off with seven wins in the first seven rounds, chalking up a theoretical performance of 3289. Two draws in the final round brough that down to a more realistic 2876, enough to win the tournament a full point ahead of the field. Second to Mikhalevski was Canadian GM Kevin Spaggett. The Seniors was won by Juan Bellon. Illustrated report.

Kasparov on Chris Matthews' Hardball

10/25/2007 – Yet again we see Garry Kasparov on a big American TV network. One Good Move, which provides the video feed, writes: "Kasparov makes a compelling case for the Bush Administration's hypocrisy in the world, and that Putin has the puppet Bush dancing to his tune. A dance meant to keep the world in turmoil so that KGB Inc. can benefit from high oil prices." Interview and our readers' reactions.

Anand in the news: Time, Sportstar and other stories

10/25/2007 – Having regained the World Championship title, Anand is currently on a “vacation” in India, where he is being "felicitated" and showered with gifts. Time for the game’s finest ambassador to reflect on what chess has given him, and how it can be promoted as a spectator sport. And to reveal details on the strategies that led to his dramatic success. We have links and excerpts.

Kasparov vs Wolf Blitzer on CNN's Late Edition

10/24/2007 – He did it again: the former world champion and leader of the Russian opposition has appeared on yet another prime time American TV show. After Colbert and Maher, this time Kasparov argues with CNN's Wolf Blitzer about Russian politics under the regime of the president Vladimir Putin. Late Edition can be seen all over the world – in case you missed it here are transcripts and a podcast.

IM Sergey Nikolaev slain in Moscow racist attack

10/24/2007 – Horrific news: a Russian IM, who hailed from the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, was brutally murdered in Moscow this weekend, by a gang of racist youths after a soccer match who attacked him because of his Eurasian complexion. It adds to the rising number of hate crimes in the Russian capital. Meanwhile news services are full of today's conviction of the "chessboard killer". All deeply disturbing.

Dedicated to Keres – The Baltic Sea Young Stars

10/23/2007 – Periodically the Baltic countries dispatch their young chess champions, boys and girls, to take part in a special tournament. The host is the ancient town Narva, on the border between Estonia and Russia, the venue Hermann Castle, built in the XIII Century. This year it was dedicated to the memory of the greatest Estonian player, Paul Keres. Big illustrated report.

Shakhryar Mamedyarov wins Essent Hoogeveen

10/22/2007 – With a win and two draws Shak Mamedyarov took the four-player double round robin in Essent by half a point. Behind him Ruslan Ponomariov and Loek van Wely switched places – Loek took second – and at the end of the table former Junior World Champion Zaven Andriasyan stayed firmly with his zero point score. Games, results and a photo special by Fred Lucas.