Edward Winter presents: Unsolved Chess Mysteries (14)

9/8/2007 – The latest selection from Chess Notes consists of ten positions, including fragments from games ascribed to Capablanca and Nimzowitsch. Was an alleged Bernstein victory a composition? What is known about a position in which Black resigned despite having an immediate win? Can more be discovered about the classic Fahrni pawn ending? Readers are invited to join in the hunt for clues.

Start your powerplay now

9/7/2007 – Not so long ago, Daniel King recorded the first parts in his exciting "Powerplay" series, which is intended to end up in a comprehensive video chess course on no less than nine DVDs. Bob Long has watched all four DVDs that have come out so far and found the latest one, 'Start right – start now', to be the best. Why don't you buy it now now or read Bobs review.

China leads the United Kingdom by 18-14

9/7/2007 – It's déjà vu all over again. After defeating Russia in Nizhniy Novgorod a week ago the Chinese team – four top GMs, two juniors and two ladies – is well on its way to do the same to the United Kingdom team, headed by Mickey Adams and Nigel Short. After four of six rounds they lead by four points. WGM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant is the highest scorer with 3.5/4. Big illustrated report.

Birthday celebrations with live chess in Odessa

9/6/2007 – It has become a good tradition – once again chess events became an integral part of Odessa City’s birthday celebrations. There was blitz tournament for everyone in the Passage trading center, a mega-simul on 213 boards and a Living Chess display near the Vorontsov’s Palace. GM Mikhail Golubev and Lena Ivanova (photos) have filed a big illustrated report.

Mexico preview: Levon Aronian, the great Armenian hope

9/6/2007 – Last week our Playchess trainer Dennis Monokroussos examined two encounters between Kramnik and Anand; this week he continues his preview of the participants in the upcoming World Championship tournament in Mexico City with a portrait of the young and very much up and coming Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian. Be there and watch.

Aroshidze wins Banyoles, Nigel Short talks about chess

9/6/2007 – It was Georgian GM Levan Aroshidze who took first prize at the Tenth Banyoles Chess Festival, which ended in late August. Top seed Nigel Short had to retire from the event after five rounds (having scored 4½ points) due to an acute back ailment. But not before he gave fans a highly entertaining two-hour lecture on his chess career. We have videos thereof.

Private Pähtz on the attack at the NATO Championship

9/5/2007 – The 18th NATO Chess Championship is taking place in Beytepe-Ankara, Turkey. Combat dress uniforms are discouraged, the soldiers play in civilian clothing. The top seed is IM and former Junior World Champion Elisabeth Pähtz, who is leading with 13 other players after three rounds. But is this wisp of a girl a real soldier in the NATO forces? You better believe it.

Anand: I never really thought of chess as a career

9/5/2007 – Thirty years ago, in the south Indian city of Chennai (Madras), a young boy showed an unusual talent for chess. But in spite of the general perception that it was a game for old fogies, the family of Vishy Anand spent time, money and effort to fuel the ambitions of their son – who is now the highest ranked player on the planet. Anand talks candidly about the beginnings in this charming Sify interview.

Seventh PAL/CSS Freestyle Tournament with $16,000 up for grabs

9/5/2007 – A "Freestyle tournament" is one in which computer assistance – or help in any conceivable form – during the game is allowed and encouraged. The Seventh PAL/CSS Freestyle tournament will take place on the Playchess server on Sept. 7th-9th and 15th-16th. The main sponsor, the PAL Group in Abu Dhabi (UAE), has provided a $16,000 dollar prize fund. Join the fun.

Chess in Amsterdam and Haarlem

9/4/2007 – With any chess tournament, there is always the question of what to do on those days when you are not playing. Unless you are a dedicated soul, who spends the whole of the rest day analysing, you will want to find some ways to relax. Steve Giddins, an expert on the subject (of relaxing) takes us to the beautiful city of Haarlem, where the BDO tournament was held. A chess tourist's guide.

NH Tournament: Rising Stars beat Experience Grandmasters 26½-23½

9/3/2007 – After ten tough rounds of top-level chess it was the younger players – Karjakin, Cheparinov, Smeets, Stellwagen and Negi – who were victorious. The veterans battled to within a single point, but a 1½-3½ disaster in the last round spoiled it for them. The best player was Sergey Karjakin (score: 7/10, performance: 2759), who earned a ticket to the Amber tournament next year. Final report.

Navara beats Short 7-3 in CEZ Trophy

9/3/2007 – The CEZ Chess Trophy 2007, August 30 to Sept 2nd, had two ten-game rapid chess matches: former world championship challenger Nigel Short took on top Czech grandmaster David Navara; and chess legend Jan Timman faced the top female Czech player Jana Jackova. Six games were in regular chess, four in Fischer Random Chess (with shuffled pieces). Illustrated report.

The GM Journey of Amon Simutowe

9/2/2007 – Born in Zambia, a country of resplendent beauty, the lad had originally set his dreams on being a striker for the Zambian national football team, after starring at the youth level. However, his life was changed forever when his brother Solomon introduced him to chess at the age of ten. Today Amon Simutowe is the first sub-Saharan African to complete his GM norms. Portrait by Daaim Shabazz.

4th Dato’ Arthur Tan Open: the “Empire” Strikes Back!

9/1/2007 – It happened again! Just like in the year 2005, the 4th IGB Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysia Open again saw the triumph of an untitled player, Li Chao, against a sea of GMs, IMs and WGMs – 87 players from 15 countries. Also, as was the case two years’ back, this untitled player again turned out to have originated from China… Big pictorial report by Edwin Lam Choong Wai.

Spanish, Sicilian, Slav, Najdorf, Caro-Kann, Nimzo, King’s Indian and Petroff

9/1/2007 – Alexei Shirov, Latvian/Spanish Super-GM, is not only one of the most exciting players in the world today, an uncompromising fighter who never fails to inspire chess fans with his attacking ideas. He is one of the finest and most prolific chess trainers as well. Look at the widely diverse series of high-class training DVDs he has produced. Pick a couple and improve your chess with Alexei Shirov.

FIDE Ethics Commission rules on Short and Topalov/Danailov

8/31/2007 – After intense deliberation over the complaints brought against Nigel Short, who had criticised top FIDE officers, and Veselin Topalov and Silvio Danailov for accusing Vladimir Kramnik of cheating during the 2006 World Championship, the Ethics Commission has issued severe reprimands against the latter, while Nigel was warned for using the word "dunderhead". Full judgements.

Nizhniy Novgorod: China beats Russia 52.5-47.5

8/31/2007 – The Russian men were in the lead for quite a long stretch, but in the last three rounds things went badly astray. In the end the men had lost narrowly to China by a 24.5-25.5 score, and since the Chinese women had defeated their Russian counterparts by 27-23, it was the far-eastern team that took overall victory. We bring you final results, games, statistics and a bunch of new pictures by Ilya Odesskiy.

Knights of the South Bronx – in Durban

8/30/2007 – David MacEnulty is an inner-city teacher whose work with children in New York inspired the Ted Danson film Knights of the South Bronx. For David chess is a set of mind skills that enables children to face challenges they will encounter in their lives. Recently he visited Durban in South Africa, where the Durban Metro Chess Academy is teaching children to Push Pawns, Not Drugs!

Mexico 2007: preview of favorites Anand and Kramnik

8/29/2007 – With the world championship in Mexico City almost upon us, our Playchess trainer Dennis Monokroussos will spend the next few shows previewing the players. He starts with the clear favorites: world champion Vladimir Kramnik and world #1 by rating Viswanathan Anand. These two would merit many hours of study, but Dennis keeps things brief and takes a look at one highlight apiece.

Nizhniy Novgorod: Russia closes in, China leads 41-39

8/29/2007 – What is this guerrilla mercenary (GM) doing with the knife? Was that how the Russians narrowed the lead of their Chinese opponents? No, they did it with good chess, especially in the men's team, which leads by 21.5-18.5. The knife was used to create carnage amongst melons and cantaloupes during a picnic on the free day. We bring you a special report: GMs in trunks.

NH Tournament: Rising Stars lead Experienced Grandmasters at halftime

8/28/2007 – The young guys – Karjakin, Cheparinov, Smeets, Stellwagen and Negi – were doing well against the veterans – Beliavsky, Jussupow, Khalifman, Nokolic, Ljubojevic – until round five, when the older men struck back with a dashing 3½-1½ win. Still, at the end of the first half of the tournament the Rising Stars are leading 13.0-12.0. The return rounds begin on Tuesday. Illustrated report.

2007 Mexico World Championship starts in two weeks

8/28/2007 – Are you ready for it? On Wednesday, September 12th is the opening ceremony, on Thursday at 14:00h (2 p.m.) local time the first round. The event is a double round robin with eight players – Anand, Kramnik, Morozevich, Leko, Aronian, Svidler, Gelfand and Grischuk. ChessBase will report extensively and provide live broadcasts with commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan. Prepare for the feast!

Edward Winter presents: Unsolved Chess Mysteries (13)

8/27/2007 – In a 1937 game did Alekhine play two moves in succession? Can the full score of a Nimzowitsch brilliancy be found? Who was Colonel Moreau? Why was it claimed that Morphy killed himself? Who were the first masters to be filmed? What happened in the famous Ed. Lasker v Thomas game? Is a portrait of the young Philidor genuine? From Chess Notes comes a new selection of mysteries to solve.

Euwe Stimulans: Simutowe wins and completes GM norms

8/27/2007 – He is, we believe, the first sub-Saharan African to achieve this kind of success: 25-year-old Zambian IM Amon Simutowe won the GM tournament in Arnhem, a point ahead of the field, without loss and with a 2687 performance, completing his final GM norm in the process. Congratulations Amon. We celebrate this triumph with a beautiful pictorial by Fred Lucas.