Oh the intensity... Wijk round two analysis

1/14/2008 – The second round was characterized by intense fight on practically all boards. True, we saw only two decisive games (compared with three in the inaugural day), but the move average increased dramatically. Gelfand-Aronian featured a complex strategic fight in which Gelfand blundered in a difficult position. Carlsen played a great technical game against Eljanov. Commentary by GM Mihail Marin.

Edward Winter presents: Unsolved Chess Mysteries (22)

1/13/2008 – This further selection from Chess Notes includes a neglected game which Lasker reportedly nominated as his deepest, a discussion of the short-lived American player George H. Derrickson, discrepancies in a Colle v Grünfeld game, and the still-unresolved affair of the termination of the 1984-85 Karpov v Kasparov match. Readers are invited to join in the hunt for clues.

Wijk R01: Did Mamedyarov resign prematurely?

1/13/2008 – Grandmaster Mihail Marin, who is annotating the most important games from Wijk aan Zee 2008, thinks so – and that Anand overlooked a repetition. Marin will be providing simple and instructive notes for chess enthusiasts. We will publish his express commentary on the day after each round, while the next ChessBase Magazine will carry comprehensive analysis. Enjoy and learn.

Wijk R02: Carlsen and Aronian score again

1/13/2008 – After two rounds, it is Aronian and Carlsen who share the lead on 2/2. Aronian showed some deep opening preparation with against Gelfand and won this black game in fine style. Carlsen took much longer to beat Eljanov, grinding down his opponent with relentless determination and technique. Anand drew a promising position against Mamedyarov. Express report.

Wijk aan Zee 2008 starts on Saturday

1/12/2008 – The annual Wijk aan Zee tournament takes place from January 12th to 27th 2008. This year it is a category 20 event with an average rating of 2742, with Anand, Kramnik and Topalov participating. There are two more groups of strong grandmasters. A special treat awaits you: Playchess kicks off with live commentary by former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Full information.

Wijk R01: Anand and Topalov lose, Carlsen wins

1/12/2008 – An explosive start to the 2008 edition of Wijk aan Zee: Teimour Radjabov defeated World Champion Vishy Anand, Levon Aronian took the full point from Veselin Topalov. And youngster Magnus Carlsen started off with a black-piece victory over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. In the C-Group the drawing ratio was zero percent. Express report with games and pictures.

Fifth Bykova Memorial – the glamour tournament of the year

1/11/2008 – Elisaveta Bykova, the third Women's World Champion (1953-56), was born in a town near the former Russian capital of Vladimir. Every year there is a memorial tournament for Bykova, and this year it was an especially attractive affair. Not just because of the beautiful historical location, and the exciting chess. The highlight was a glamour shoot with the girls. Spectacular photo report.

The essentials

1/11/2008 – ChessBase Workshop columnist Steve Lopez has often mentioned "the essentials" – ChessBase products that he finds himself unable to do without. But he's never provided us with a comprehensive list of said essentials – until now. You'll find his list in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

DGT presents: new clocks, technology – and Vladimir Kramnik

1/10/2008 – The Dutch company Digital Game Technology, founded in 1992 in a 17 sq meter office, has become the world leader in chess clocks and chessboard sensor technology. On January 9th the company moved to new quarters measuring 1000 sq meters. At the opening ceremony they presented new products, including a folding chess clock. Special guest: Vladimir Kramnik.

Ni hao, GM Zhang Zhong and WGM Li Ruofan

1/10/2008 – Ni hao, pronounced second tone-third tone, is Chinese for Hello or Hi ("Ni hao ma?" means "how are you" and "Wo hun hao" means "I'm doing great"). After this short lesson in Chinese first encounters we bring you a portrait of the Chinese dream couple: GM Zhang Zhong, Elo 2634, and his wife WGM Li Ruofan, rated 2417. Bisik-Bisik (Malay for "whisperings") by Edwin Lam.

Viorel Bologan: one of the more-than-ten players

1/9/2008 – "There are many more than ten people who know how to play chess!" wrote the Moldovan grandmaster in his recent best games collection. He proved that he is one of them by winning Dortmund 2003 by a full point, ahead of Anand, Kramnik and Leko. On Playchess.com tonight Dennis Monokroussos will be looking at one of Bologan's spectacular victories. See you there.

Philip Hogarty, Irish chess talent, 1988-2008

1/9/2008 – Philip Hogarty, the chairman of the Irish Chess Union tragically passed away on New Year's day. He was struck by a police car at 2.30 a.m and died shortly after that in hospital. He was only 19. He represented Ireland at youth level and was a rapidly improving player. Also one of the best-loved people in the country. He will be dearly missed by everbody. Eulogy by his friends.

Radjabov wins ACP World Rapid Cup in Odessa

1/8/2008 – Without doubt the knockout rapid chess format in this ACP tournament brought some heart-stopping action. In the end it was GM Teimour Radjabov, 20 years old and from Baku, Azerbaijan, who took the cup, beating Alexander Grischuk in the final. Meanwhile the Chairman of the sponsoring Pivdenny Bank was elected new President of the ACP. Big illustrated report by Misha Savinov.

Hastings 2007/08: Traditions upheld – what a shame!

1/7/2008 – Hastings is a tournament where tradition has always been important. In the final rounds it was some of the less fortunate traditions of grandmaster chess than were on display. Like a nine-minute draw by an overly pragmatic tournament leader. Fortunately some of the other players fought it out, and so there are some nice games to play through, in this final report by Steve Giddins.

Almasi wins Reggio Emilia 2008

1/7/2008 – He led practically from the start, and never let go to the end. Hungary's third strongest GM took the 50th edition of the prestigious Italian tournament by half a point, ahead of Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan, Ni Hua of China and Pentala Harikrishna of India. Almasi's performance was 2747. Veteran Viktor Korchnoi scored 4.0/9. Illustrated final report.

Mate in one

1/7/2008 – "Aw. c'mon. Don't be so hard on yourself. It happens to everybody sometime or another." – "Not to me, it doesn't." Well, our Workshop columnist appears to be suffering from a bad case of it. No, it's not that. It's something worse – chess blindness. Learn about his therapy regimen utilizing ChessBase 9 in the latest edition of ChessBase Workshop.

ACP World Rapid Cup in freezing Odessa

1/6/2008 – Sixteen players are gathered for this knockout event, which carries a US $136,000 prize fund. Not enough to attract Anand or Kramnik. But Ivanchuk, Shirov, Svidler, Gelfand, Radjabov, Karjakin, Karpov and Polgar make the show very worth- while. Generally the favourites went through in the first stage, except Alexei Shirov, who faltered against Inarkiev. Big illustrated report by Misha Savianov.

White King and Red Queen – chess during the cold war

1/6/2008 – This new book, by Daniel Johnson, focuses on the way chess became became a political weapon in the proletarian revolution of the Soviet Union. Naturally the 1972 match Spassky vs Fischer plays a central role. Three generally critical book reviews have appeared, by John Nunn in the Financial Times, by Steven Poole in the Guardian, and by Nigel Short in the Sunday Times. Excerpts.

Almasi and Gashimov lead in Reggio Emilia

1/5/2008 – This prestigious tournament in Italy is being held for the 50th time. Its strongest edition was in 1991/92, when for the first time in history a category 18 was achieved. The participants included World Champions Kasparov, Karpov and all the top players of the day. With four other ex World Champions watching it was the only non-Soviet player who won the tournament. Guess who it was.

Hastings 2007/08 – a Grandmaster is Born

1/5/2008 – Eight rounds of the annual Hastings tournament have been completed, and England already has yet another grandmaster. Instead of going all out for a win, as is custom with him, Simon Williams played a safety shot and got a draw in twelve moves. This brought Simon the precious couple of rating points that he needed to take his rating over 2500, and thus earn him his Grandmaster title.

The problem of draws – feedback from our readers

1/4/2008 – The perceived problem of too many unfought draws in chess has led to a number of imaginative cures being proposed, involving the modification of the rules of the games, the scoring system and the prize distribution. Over Christmas we presented a particularly clever one: let the draw offer stand for the rest of the game. Here are reactions to this proposal and new ideas. Long interesting read.

The Aussies are coming – in chess

1/3/2008 – Australia, a country with a giant sports obsession, has just 471 rated chess players (two GMs, 13 IMs). But it is an emerging chess nation that, by sending large contingents to major international events, is moving in the right direction. Australia sent seven players to the Commonwealth chess Championship. Here are photo profiles of each of them.

Chess engines' playing styles

1/2/2008 – What's a "chessplaying style"? How do the styles of different chess engines differ? These are the questions tackled in thie latest ChessBase Workshop, in which our columnist defines the playing styles of our various chess engines in basic layman's terms. Workshop...

Player repertoire opening books

1/2/2008 – After our recent ChessBase Workshop series on developing an opening repertoire, you would think we've heard the last word on using opening books. Not so -- our columnist has turned his attention toward creating opening books based on the repertoires of famous players. Find out more in the latest ChessBase Workshop column. Workshop...