ChessBase Light 2007 - part 12

8/10/2007 – ChessBase Light Premium 2007 provides you with a number of tools which allow you to annotate your own games, both verbally and with symbolic commentary. You'll find out how to annotate and replace games in the new edition of ChessBase Workshop.

International Chess Festival in Predeal

8/9/2007 – This is the largest of its kind in Romania, consisting of five separate tournaments, with over 500 players from all over the world. Of the events it is the European Women's Rapid and Blitz Championships (August 7-10) that are of special interest. The top seeds are around 2460. One of the participants, WGM Elena Partac, has taken time to send us a pictorial report from Predeal.

In the Jaws of the Tiger – part two point five

8/9/2007 – Last week our Playchess trainer Dennis Monokroussos presented a game by Tiger Hillarp Persson, the second by this wildly imaginative player. The game was so rich that he only made it halfway through. So this week Dennis continues with his analysis, starting from move 17. Don't miss it!

Fifth György Marx Memorial in Paks, Hungary

8/8/2007 – This tournament, which lasts from August 4 to 15, 2007, is intended to give the most talented young grandmasters of the country an opportunity to gain experience, at the hands strong foreign players. They range from Viktor Korchnoi, aged 76, Elo 2610, to Hou Yifan, 13, 2523 (Viktor beat Hou with the black pieces in round one). Report after round three.

Ponomariov wins XXII Torneo Villarrobledo

8/7/2007 – You may be forgiven if this comes as a surprise to you. The 22nd edition of the rapid chess event took place in Villarrobledo, a city in the heart of the Spanish wine-growing area. Participants included Veselin Topalov, Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexei Shirov. The event was won by Ruslan Ponomariov, on tiebreak ahead of Dreev and Topalov. We have scraped together all available information.

GM Pravin Thipsay triumphs in Mangalore

8/7/2007 – The FIDE Rated All India Open Chess Tournament, which was held in Mangalore, India, was expectedly won by the top-seeded GM Pravin Thipsay, but not before surviving some scares in the early rounds. The event attracted a total of 271 entries and had a Rs 1.50 lakh (Rs 150,000 = 2750 Euros). Praful Zaveri, who was also the Chief Arbiter of this tournament, has sent us a colourful photo report.

Second Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsø

8/7/2007 – The Norwegian island town of Tromsø lies well within the Arctic Circle, which means that this time of the year the sun never sets. Tromsø is playing host to a strong GM tournament from August 4th-12th, 2007. Top seed is Magnus Carlsen, who rushed in from his victory in Biel and did not have a great start here (3.0/4, place ten). Two other GMs, Macieja and Lie, lead with 4.0/4. Round four report.

Can chess become a million-dollar enterprise?

8/5/2007 – Recently FIDE founded a commercial branch called Global Chess BV. Based in Amsterdam and run by Dutch businessman Bessel Kok this company, equippted with a seed capital of $4.5 million, is set to take over the marketing of major FIDE events, especially future World Chess Championships. A German newspaper has conducted an interview with Bessel Kok.

Carlsen: 'This victory is a milestone for my career'

8/5/2007 – The first time he played in Biel he came in sixth. "I will never finish last again here," the 14-year-old vowed. Last year he was second, and promised to come back for victory. Which is exactly what Magnus Carlsen delivered last week, winning his first high-level category 18 tournament. A few hours before his departure he gave Olivier Breisacher this informative interview.

Threeway tie in Dutch Open in Dieren

8/4/2007 – The Dutch Open at Dieren ran from July 23 to August 2. After a tough battle the event ended in a threefold tie between GMs L'Ami and Van den Doel, with 2600+ performances, and IM Deep Sengupta (2500 performance), all of whom scored 7/9 points. Seven more players finished half a point behind. Report with games and spectacular photographic impressions by Fred Lucas.

ChessBase Light 2007 - part 11

8/4/2007 – ChessBase Light Premium 2007 allows you to enter and save games manually, and even provides you with an electronic "helper" which can dramatically reduce the time required to input a game by hand. Meet HEUMAS in the new ChessBase Workshop.

Biel 09: Carlsen beats Radjabov and Onischuk, wins Biel

8/3/2007 – Isn't this young man amazing! After losing two games in a row he bounced back with all the necessary force and determination in the final round, to beat the leading Teimour Radjabov in a critical game. Then, tying for first with Alexander Onischuk, he beat him in the tiebreak to take overall victory at the Biel GM tournament. Congratulations, Magnus, way to go, man.

Biel 08: Carlsen loses to van Wely, Onischuk, Pelletier win

8/2/2007 – Magnus Carlsen lost his second straight game, and was thus overtaken by Radjabov, who drew quickly with Motylev, and Onischuk, who beat Avrukh. Yannick Pelletier won his second straight, against Bu, whilst Polgar found a miracle endgame save against Grischuk. With one round to go, Radjabov and Onischuk lead by half a point from Carlsen, Pelletier and Polgar. Exciting battles.

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.