The Presidents and the Chess Center in Chisinau

8/2/2007 – Last week the President of Moldova invited the President of Kalmykia, who is also the president of FIDE, to discuss relations between the two countries. After the meetings both presidents visited the Republican Chess Club to announce a spectacular project: the world chess federation is planning to build a giant chess center in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. Report by WGM Elena Partac.

In the Jaws of the Tiger – part two

8/1/2007 – A few months ago our Playchess trainer Dennis Monokroussos presented the game Ivan Sokolov-Tiger Hillarp Persson, a spectacular achievement won by the latter. You might think it would be hard for Hillarp Persson to top such an achievement, but as you’ll see in this week’s show, his win over Peter Heine Nielsen is positively jaw-dropping. Thursday August 2nd at 9 p.m. ET.

Edward Winter presents: Unsolved Chess Mysteries (11)

8/1/2007 – Did Alekhine attempt suicide in 1922? Why is 1 b4 often called the Hunt Opening? What are the origins of the chess proverb about the gnat and the elephant? Does Gone with the Wind include music composed by a chess theoretician? These and other mysteries from Chess Notes are discussed by the historian Edward Winter. Readers are invited to join the hunt for clues.

Dutch Open – four players in the lead

7/31/2007 – The Dutch Open in Dieren is being played from July 23 to August 2. After five rounds, Dimitry Reinderman was in the lead from a group of nine players. After a loss in round six he dropped into second, with top seed Erwin L'Ami leading on tiebreak from four. Report with special attention to a man in disguise.

Zhu Chen wins North Urals Cup 2007

7/31/2007 – She was the eleventh world women's champion, at the age of 25 in 2002. Born in China, she now lives in Qatar. And she only ties her hair in a ponytail when she is playing at the board. Zhu Chen defeated former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova to take first place, beating out Zhao Xue on tiebreak points. We bring you another big illustrated report with pictures by Vadim Smalkov.

Biel 07: Radjabov wins, Carlsen loses to Pelletier

7/31/2007 – Two days ago, we asked who could stop Magnus Carlsen. Step forward Yannick Pelletier! The Swiss GM gave the home fans something to cheer about, as he cashed in on a very strange error by the Norwegian prodigy. Radjabov won his second straight game, after a mind-boggling slugfest against the luckless Van Wely, and now shares the lead with Carlsen. Echos of Fischer.

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.