The fascinating Maroczy System

11/16/2007 – Sergei Tiviakov is not only one of the leading Dutch grandmasters but also a fighter for creative chess – for instance in the Sicilian Maroczy system, which is the topic of one of his new training DVDs. As John Donaldson put it in his review, "no one in the world understands the Black side of the Maroczy as well as Tiviakov". Buy 'The Marcozy System' now or read more.

Tal Memorial R5: Kramnik beats Shirov, takes lead

11/15/2007 – Four draws and one decided game – but tremendous fighting chess: A slugfest between Jakovenko and Leko which ended after 61 moves in a tense draw; a 93-move draw between Ivanchuk and Carlsen in which when the world's number two could not overcome the teenager's resistance; and a grudge game in which Kramnik ground down Shirov in a trade-mark Catalan. Results, games and videos.

Champions League: Topalov wins with big finishing effort

11/15/2007 – It didn't look good for him during much of the tournament, but former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov produced another trademark strong finish, winning his last three games, all against his main rivals, to take the event in Vitoria Gasteiz, Spain, with a 2835 performance. Judit Polgar and Ruslan Ponomariov both lost to give Topalov his impressive 1.5-point lead. Final report.

Chess, football and the Bilbao Rule – Part II

11/15/2007 – The debate on the perceived problem of too many – unfought – draws in chess, and what to do about it, continues. The letters pour in and we keep receiving extensive, well thought through proposals that attempt to create incentives for playing to win. Josu Fernández presents closing arguments for the Bilbao System, while Serbian GM Dragan Solak tells us why he thinks it cannot work.

FEMIDA 2007 – traditional for many GMs

11/15/2007 – Recently the city of Kharkov, Ukraine, hosted three tournaments: Men and Women GMs and a Women Rapid Tournament. Great organization, great chessplayers, surprises, and Ukranian food. And music by students of the local Academy of Law (yes, law, not music). Our report by Elena Partac includes lots of pictures, a video and a recipe for Ukrainian Borscht.

Tal Memorial R4: All five games drawn – again

11/14/2007 – After nine draws in the first ten games the Tal Memorial category 20 tournament in Moscow hotted up, with a fast and furious third round (four wins, two by Black). However, that was apparently just a flurry. In round four it was five draws again, two short ones and two long ones. Tomorrow is the last round before the rest day, and we hope things heat up again. Results and games.

Seirawan's beautiful, instructive and unusual game

11/14/2007 – One of his great successes was his Wijk aan Zee win in 1980, at the age of 19. In his heyday he was one of the very few players who was thought to have a chance to challenge the Karpov/Kasparov dynasty. Chess politician, author and commentator Yasser Seirawan is the subject of tonight's Playchess lecture by Dennis Monokroussos. Note that the broadcast has been moved to Wednesday!

Champions League: Topalov beats Ponomariov, takes the lead

11/14/2007 – We know why Vesselin Topalov is feared by his colleagues. Like Kasparov the Bulgarian will try to win when really necessary, he will make heroic efforts at the end of a tournament and grab the point when it really matters. That is what happened in the penultimate round in Vitoria, where Topalov defeated the tournament leader Ruslan Ponomariov to take the sole lead. Illustrated report.

From Cover to Cover – ChessBase Magazine 120

11/13/2007 – It was an eagerly anticipated edition of the electronic magazine that appears every two months. CBM 120 contained the full annotations of all the games from the recently concluded World Chess Championship in Mexico, as provided by GM Mihail Marin. But also delightfully thoughful video comments by Alexei Shirov, and by Rustam Kasimdzhanov and other world stars. Review by Edwin Lam.

Teimur Radjabov: We believe common sense will prevail

11/12/2007 – At the European Championship Azerbaijan won Bronze behind Russia and Armenian. The latter are historical enemies of the Azeris, politically, culturally and in chess. Teimour Radjabov, the star of the Azerbaijani team, gave vent to his personal feelings in a startling interview with the news service APA. Now he has written to us to modify his statements. Interview and Radjabov's clarification.

Tal Memorial: Four spectacular wins in round three

11/12/2007 – Round two was disappointing – all games were (hard-fought) draws, bringing the drawing percentage to ominous 90% for the first two rounds. But then round three made up for everything: no less than four decided games, with two wins for Black. Especially exciting the deadly tactical strike by Shak Mamedyarov against Vassily Ivanchuk. Big report with video interviews by Europe Echecs.

Champions League: Ponomariov leads by a full point

11/11/2007 – With three rounds to go former chess prodigy and FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov leads, after his sixth-round win over Judit Polgar. The Hungarian GM and strongest women in the history of the game defeated the 12th world champion Anatoly Karpov in round seven to join the chasing group. Meanwhile four players have donated their prize money for the tournament's Africa benefit.

Friends and rivals – USSR vs Yugoslavia 2007

11/11/2007 – Now hang on, we hear you say, the two nation states have long ceased to exist? But this week organisers in Moscow rolled back the clock and staged a match in the tradition of the famous friends-and-rivals encounters of the 1950s-80s. The teams consisted of veteran players who had taken part in the matches during the heyday of the Soviet era. Illustrated report.

Tal Memorial starts in Moscow – Leko draws first blood

11/11/2007 – For the second time this event is being staged in Moscow, with ten players, all rated over 2700 and including heavyweights like Ivanchuk, Kramnik (appearing for the first time since "lending" his title to Anand), Leko, Mamedyarov, Shirov, Gelfand and Kamsky. In round one it was Peter Leko who scored the only victory, against Alexei Shirov. Illustrated report with games, pictures and videos.

Judit Polgar: 'I can work myself into the top ten again'

11/11/2007 – She is far and away the strongest female chess player that ever lived. At times she was in the top ten of the overall world rankings, but in the last three years, due to the birth of two children, has dropped back a little in her preparation and results. But as everyone can see from her recent tournaments this remarkable lady is on the rebound. Indepth interview by Jose Emilio.

Chess player banned for using Pocket Fritz

11/9/2007 – Last Saturday, while playing a game for his club, a Dutch chess player was caught using a PDA with Pocket Fritz. He claimed he was not analyzing, but his game was declared lost, and yesterday the player was severely punished by the competition manager of the Dutch Chess Federation: a ban till the end of the season 2009-2010. Tough sentence.

Solutions to chess problems and astronomical dilemmas

11/9/2007 – Recently John Nunn, retired world-class grandmaster, won the 31st World Championship for problem solvers. In our report we showed you some sample problems – today we provide the solutions. John is also an amateur astronomer, who owns a 10-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. He sent us some pictures he took with a normal digital camera. They include the moon and an exploding comet.

Five out of five

11/9/2007 – Repertoire DVDs go fast. Especially when they cover a wide range of variations. Nigel Davies' new course '1...d6 Universal' along with his previous Pirc DVD is a powerful prototype learning instrument, for with only these two DVDs you can let White play just everything. FM Carsten Hansen in his monthly Chess Cafe column gave it his top evaluation. Buy it now or read more.

Ponomariov leads in Champions League

11/8/2007 – It was Judit Polgar who broke the spell of the two leaders – by beating former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov with the black pieces in the fourth round (after beating another former FIDE champion, Rustam Kasimdzhanov with the black pieces a round earlier). Meanwhile Ruslan Ponomariov coasted to sole first with his two black piece victories. Illustrated report.

34th Women’s National Championship of India

11/8/2007 – This event sees the cream of Indian women's chess battling it out in Puna. Top seed Dronavalli Harika, rated 2480, is the overall number 15 player in the country, Nisha Mohota, 2416, and Tania Sachdev, 2413 follow close behind. The three top players will represent India at the next Olympiad. Pictorial report.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure

11/8/2007 – Some people find the typical household chore of taking out the garbage annoying, but in chess it’s a real pleasure facing and taking out the opponent’s garbage openings. In his Thursday night Playchess lecture, Dennis Monokroussos scrapes the bottom of the barrel and targets what he considers may be the worst opening in chess: the Latvian Gambit.

Chess, football and the Bilbao Rule

11/8/2007 – The discussion and the search for remedies for the perceived problem of short draws in chess continues. Josu Fernández, a Spanish organiser, sent us a report on the effects of the Bilbao 3-1-0 system on the football league in his country, and on what this means for chess. Other readers too have submitted thoughful papers on the subject. Again, it is a long interesting read.

ETCC: Russia are European men's and women's team champions

11/7/2007 – The men had already clinched it one round before the end, and on the final day the women's team joined them by scoring two match points more than their nearest rivals (the men were three points ahead of the field). The best player of the tournament was Peter Svidler who scored 6/7 on board one for Russia, with a performance of 2989. Report with pictures, results and games.

ETCC: Russia leads in both men's and women's section

11/6/2007 – Actually the men are through, with a three-point lead before the final round they cannot be caught. But at least they were forced to concede their first draw, against Spain, led by the volatile Alexei Shirov, who defeated Alexander Morozevich. In the women's section Poland suffered a first defeat, while Russia won their match to take a two-point lead. Pictures, results and games.