ChessBase Light 2007 - part 10

7/30/2007 – Now that you've activated your ChessBase Light 2007 program to ChessBase Light Premium, it's time to start learning about the new features: you can open multiple databases, create new ones, and copy games from one database to another. Learn about all this in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

North Urals Cup: four ladies in the lead

7/30/2007 – It's Zhu and Katya and Zhao and Natalija (Chen, Lahno, Xue and Pogonina) who are leading in the super-strong women's event in Krasnoturinsk, Russia. With one round left all have 5.0/8 points and have cleared the rest of the field by a point and a half. All decisions will come in tomorrow's final round, which starts at 11 a.m. local time (translations given). Big illustrated report .

Biel 06: Radjabov and Polgar win, Carlsen leads

7/29/2007 – Teimour Radjabov won in decisive style against Boris Avrukh, to replace him in second place behind Magnus Carlsen. Judit Polgar played an old and unfashionable line in the Najdorf, previously used by Fischer, to beat Alexander Motylev. In the Europe Echecs video section we hear about Topalov and the world championship in an outspoken interview with Anatoly Karpov.

Biel 05: Carlsen in the lead – can anyone stop this lad?

7/29/2007 – Magnus Carlsen beats Alexander Onischuk, his main rival, with a typical piece of tactical wizadry, while Bu beat Motylev in a fairly obscure game. The other encounters ended piecefully. 16-year-old Magnus has now taken the outright lead, a full point ahead of the field. His score is 4.0/5, his performance so far a scary 2907. Report with round five photos and commentary.

Pia Cramling wins MonRoi Grand-Prix

7/29/2007 – She's been on top of women's chess for over two decades. Swedish grandmaster Pia Cramling, who after marriage and becoming a mother finds that she is enjoying chess more than ever, proved that she is still a force to be reckoned with, by winning the Grand Prix in Montreal with 5.0/7, half a point ahead of the field. Pictorial report with video interviews.

Vassily Ivanchuk wins, Nigel Short crashes at 8th Montreal International

7/29/2007 – With a splendid last-round win over his main rival Pentala Harikrishna veteran Ukrainian grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk wrapped up the 8th International tournament in Montreal, finishing with a full point lead over the rest of his colleagues. But the big sensation was Nigel Short's 2.0/9 last place, one of the worst crashes seen in modern chess history. We asked Nigel: what went wrong?

Biel 04: Four decided games, Carlsen and Onischuk lead

7/27/2007 – Magnus Carlsen was a tad lucky to beat Alexander Motylev with the black pieces – the Russian had pressed all through the game and then blundered. Avrukh taught Bu Xianghzi how every move counts, Onischuk outplayed Loek van Wely and Grischuk did the same to Pelletier. We bring you a report with a candid Europe Echecs video of Judit Polgar talking about Bobby Fischer.

The truly awesome Garry Kasparov

7/27/2007 – The Sicilian Najdorf is the system that mostly formed modern chess over the last centuries. That is why a course in the Najdorf can help every chess player's understanding of the game. Especially when you have the chance to learn right from the number one expert, Garry Kasparov. His new Najdorf vol 3 DVD is packed with six hours of deep analysis. Buy it now or read this review.

Efim Geller, the father of the King's Indian

7/26/2007 – Efim Geller (1925-1998) was among the world's best for about 30 years. He played in six Candidates cycles and had a +2 career score against Bobby Fischer. He was a great theoretician, of whom Botvinnik said: "Before Geller, we did not understand the King's Indian." Our Playchess trainer Dennis Monokroussos shows us a game in which he ironically defeats his opponent's King's Indian.

Krush US Champion, Houska leads in MonRoi Grand Prix

7/26/2007 – In the recent US Women's Championship in Stillwater, Oklahoma, it was top seed Irina Krush, WGM and IM with a 2479 FIDE rating (number 14 in the world), who took the title. Irina then rushed off to Montreal, where she is currently playing in the MonRoi Women's Grand Prix, where her British colleague Jovanka Houska is in the lead. Pictorial report and games from both events.

North Urals Cup: well balanced event, exciting play

7/26/2007 – At halftime all ten players in this tournament are very close together, just a point separating the first from the last. Elisabeth Pähtz recovered from her 0-3 start with two wins, Kateryna Lahno and top seed Hou Yifan faltered, Natalya Pogonina and Zhu Chen fought their way to the top. We bring you a full report with splendid pictures by event photographer Vadim Smalkov.

Biel 03: Wins for Bu vs Polgar, Motylev vs van Wely

7/26/2007 – Another day of exciting chess, with Bu Xiangzhi, the first Chinese GM to play in the Biel Chess Festival, defeating Judit Polgar in just 34 moves. Alexander Motylev, on the black side of an English Opening, demolished Loek van Wely. Top seeds Grischuk and Radjabov playing a cliff-hanger that ended after 66 moves in a draw. We bring you a report with pictures, and videos by Europe Echecs.

Stefanova leads in North Urals Cup 2007

7/25/2007 – After a win and a draw the former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova, Bulgaria, demolished Russian WGM and IM Alisa Galliamova in a brutal 20-mover in round three to take the sole lead in the North Urals Cup, which is restricted to top female players and is taking place from July 22 to 31 in Krasnoturinsk, Russia. With 47% draws this event is producing fighting chess. Big pictorial report.

Rajlich wins Sixth PAL/CSS Freestyle Tournament

7/25/2007 – For the first time in Freestyle a team has succeeded in regaining the title. Vasik Rajlich won the third event in June 2006, and now, together with his wife and French Defence expert IM Iweta Rajlich, has staged a come-back, winning the $16,000 finals on the Playchess server exactly one year later. The 32-processor computer "Mission Control" came sixth. CCGM Arno Nickel reports.

Disastrous start for Nigel Short in Montreal

7/24/2007 – The Eighth Montreal International chess tournament has started, with ten very strong GMs at the start. After four rounds of play it is Nigel Short who is making the news, with an unprecedented 0/4 score (possibly due to a dental problem). Gata Kamsky, Pavel Eljanov and the perennial Vassily Ivanchuk are in the lead with 3.0/4. Report with pictures and videos.

Chess clock for sale – for collectors and historians

7/24/2007 – It is not just any clock, but a Jaques London Congress Chess Timer, built in the first years of the 20th century and used during games 15-34 of the Capablanca-Alekhine match in Buenos Aires in 1927. After that it was used in various simultaneous exhibitions given by Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine and Tartakower. The clock was retired in 1955 and is now for sale on eBay.

Biel 02: Onischuk beats Grischuk, remaining games drawn

7/24/2007 – The second round of the International Chess Festival in Biel/Bienne saw the battle of the Schuks, with Oni beating Gris, who at 23 is probably too young for the Slav. The other games were all drawn. Polgar and Carlsen fought out a theoretically important Open Spanish battle, whilst Motylev drew a long ending against Pelletier. Radjabov-Bu was 15 moves long. Report and games.

Smudo, Vaile, Vladimir and Ludwig – when chess meets music

7/23/2007 – Can a chess program play music? Can Fritz compose? Or to frame the question more precisely: can the search algorithms we find in chess also be used to compose fully arranged musical pieces? These questions were recently answered in an event featuring some famous German TV stars and world champion Vladimir Kramnik. Big illustrated report with Ludwig samples.

Biel 01: Happy Birthday, Judit Polgar – and great game!

7/23/2007 – The Grandmaster Group of the 40th annual Biel Chess Festival started with a spectacular black win for Judit Polgar, who was also celebrating her 31st birthday, over Loek van Wely. Magnus Carlsen was the second successful player, in a marathon game with white against China's Bu Xiangi. The other three games were drawn, mostly after interesting fights.

Exciting cuts in the Caro-Kann

7/22/2007 – Fire-on-board expert Alexei Shirov has recently released his eighth Fritz Trainer DVD, this time covering his best games in the Advance Variation of the Caro Kann. IM Steingrimsson watched the five-hour session with the Super-GM and found it entertaining and exciting. 'It is like an intellectually stimulating adventure film,' he says. Buy the DVD now or read his review.

You talking to me? Top-class chess returns to England

7/21/2007 – The first international tournament ever was held in London in 1851, but nowadays Britain organises few international chess events. That will all change in August, as London plays host to its strongest international event for 20 years, the Staunton Memorial. Two weeks later, the city of Liverpool will hold a summit match between Great Britain and China. ChessBase will have full coverage.

Fabiano Caruana – youngest US and Italian GM in history

7/20/2007 – At the "First Saturday" GM tournament in Budapest a 14-year-old lad took first place, scoring 7.0/9, a point and a half ahead of the rest. The 2631 performance gave Fabiano Caruana his final GM norm, making him the youngest US or Italian grandmaster in history (he has dual citizenship). We take you on a tour of Budapest, the tournament and end with an indepth chat with Fabiano.

ChessBase Light 2007 - part 9

7/20/2007 – ChessBase Light 2007 is a downloadable free program designed to introduce you to the world of chess databases. If you wish, you can upgrade the program to the Premium version by "activating" it. Learn more about the activation procedure in the new ChessBase Workshop.

Readers' choice: it's Short vs Topalov in a Dragon

7/19/2007 – Our Playchess trainer Dennis Monokroussos asked his readers to pick a Dragon game for this week's lecture. They decided on Nigel Short vs Veselin Topalov, Linares 1995, in which the 19-year-old Bulgarian showed his penchant for creating ultra-complex positions in which the better fighter will win.